Another Reason

by Last.one.02

This story follows Elliot's and Olivia's life together from their first kiss to becoming a family. Even they will have some troubles along the way. I'll rely on the storylines, but I do like playing with them a little. Starts with season six after Elliot's separation. E/O all the way, but other characters are also involved.

27. 8,19 Florida

AN: Finally done with the chapter, probably took more time to write it than I'd like to admit (I had a masterplan to finish by Christmas). Anyway here it is, hope you like it, I certainly spent quite a few days and more nights writing this one. Also seems like this story is starting to come to an end, I'd say perhaps 2 more chapters and then it should be done, though I could go on with a sequel, but who knows, specially since my life is quite unpredictable.

Still I hope you'll enjoy it and if you have an opinion about it, then let me know :) .

L.

***SVU***

8.19 Florida

Elliot turned around again, pushed himself on his back and cursed loudly. For so many times he liked his height, but the couch was just a bit too short as his legs were hanging over the armrest in the air and he wished to be just a little shorter. He pushed the blanket over his cold toes, placed one hand under his head on the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

"Damnit," he cursed once more.

His stubbornness, anger management and talent to say wrong things had caused him problems quite often with Kathy, but with Olivia it happened rarely. Most of the time the roots of their problems came from work and then developed into personal problems at home. Quite often the cases managed to put at least one of them in foul mood, so the frustration and anger showed itself by picking a fight with loved one.

The last time Elliot managed to make a comment about Olivia's active social life, or what it was before their relationship, he even mentioned her stint with the FBI and her case agent in response to their latest victim living quite a life and Elliot taking the side of the guy accused of rape with his argument being the victim's active social life – even implying she was a slut – and therefore it was a one-night-stand gone wrong. He compared Olivia to their victim and in the heat of the moment commented the probable number of Olivia's sexual partners compared to his and inadvertently called her easy and suggested that she could do well as a prostitute.

That comment landed him on the couch 4 nights before, because his apartment had flooding problems and he had to stay with Olivia, who was kind enough not to throw him on the streets. Even though he had been apologizing ever since the words came out of his mouth, he was banned on the couch, which had seemed much more comfortable when he spent some nights there after a fight with Kathy.

Elliot turned himself once more and settled on his right side with his back against the couch. In an attempt to get some sleep, he closed his eyes, but he was certain that it was a hopeless attempt, as he had been having troubles falling asleep ever since he landed on the couch.

He heard Olivia move in the bedroom and heard the bathroom door opening. He wanted desperately to enter the bedroom, apologize once more and hopefully get permission to spend the night in the bed with her warm body against his, but he knew it was not happening and Olivia probably wouldn't welcome him in the bedroom at all.

It was to his great surprise, when he heard her footsteps approaching him. He expected her to go to the kitchen and have a glass of water not see her standing at the edge of the couch. Elliot turned to his back again and pushed himself up on his elbows.

"Olivia," he said quietly.

She stared back at him and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.

"What's wrong?" Elliot asked with concern.

She shook her head, but didn't say anything. Instead she came over to the middle of the couch and stood in front of him, took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the couch by his side. Elliot reached out and touched her through the blanket, while balancing his weight on his other hand.

"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it, I was just angry and it slipped out," Elliot said sincerely. He tried to look at her eyes, but the room was dark enough so he couldn't see her facial expressions. "I love you, all of you – the good, the bad, the ugly. And it doesn't matter what you've done, we all have a past, but I love you right now and forever, it's all that matters. Just please forgive me," he continued.

There was silence.

Elliot opened his mouth to speak again, but to his great surprise, Olivia pulled her hand from inside the blanket and pressed her fingers over his mouth. "I know," she whispered.

He let out a heavy breath and relaxed.

"I'm sorry too, but I just need some time," Olivia said calmly.

Her finger was still pressed against his lips, so he simply nodded in response. A slight hope rose inside of him, he was certain that he's nights on the couch were ending.

Olivia leaned down and replaced her finger with her lips on his, she kissed him quickly, casually even and then she pulled away too quickly for his liking. He moved his upper body with hers until he was sitting on the couch. Olivia stood up and gently pushed his chest until he was flat on his back again. Then to his great surprise she took the blanket from him and absentmindedly threw it on the armchair.

"Liv?" he asked.

Then she climbed over him onto the couch, so she partially covered his body with hers and pulled the blanket she had wrapped around herself over them. Elliot adjusted to the change in his sleeping arrangement and got into more comfortable position, which included him casually slipping his arm around her and pulling her more on top of him than before. Olivia shifted too. She placed her head on his bare chest, her hand found his shoulder and she threw a leg over his.

Once they were both positioned comfortably, Elliot decided to test the waters and moved his palm from her back to her firm bottom. Olivia didn't offer him any reaction, so he moved his hand back upwards, coming to contact with her bare skin just below the hem of her tank top, and pressed his fingers against her warm skin. He used his other hand to reach downwards and guide her thigh over his legs, so she angled herself further onto him.

As Elliot searched for a comfortable spot to let his hands rest, he allowed himself to refamiliarize with her body. He ran his hand up and down along with her curves.

Finally, Olivia groaned against his bare chest, grabbed a hold of his hand and intertwined their fingers, while his other hand came to stop on curve of her bottom.

"Stop it, El," she said groggily. "You're acting as if you're having a woman sleep next you for the first time and now you don't know what to do. Or you haven't been able to touch a woman for too long and your primal instincts are kicking in, which I know can't be true."

"For the record, you're sleeping on me, not next to me, which you haven't done some nights," Elliot clarified.

"I can leave," Olivia mumbled.

"No, not necessary," he said quickly and wrapped both of his hands around her back to keep her there in case she wants to leave.

"Then calm down and let me rest. Or if you're angling towards having sex, then I am way too tired, so you'd need to find some other easy woman for that," Olivia said with a yawn.

"I never meant it like that," he defended himself.

"Uh, uh," Olivia mumbled. "Go to sleep," she added.

"Good night, honey," he whispered and kissed her hair.

"Night, darling," Olivia replied.

Then silence took over in the room, Elliot moved himself only a little and found how easily he was falling asleep compared to when Olivia was in the other room. Suddenly the couch was no longer uncomfortable, it was warm, welcoming and above everything else comfortable.

The morning found detectives just as they fell asleep in the middle of the night. The alarm clock from the bedroom rang over the whole apartment, waiting to be snoozed or turned off. Both Olivia and Elliot tried to shut it by hitting the coffee table beside the desk, but it didn't work as the alarm was coming from the other room.

At last, Olivia got up from the couch, earning a groan from Elliot as she did, and turned the annoying noise off. She threw on her bathrobe and came back to his view, when she started the coffee and looked for something to eat from the fridge.

She then went back to the bathroom and brushed her teeth, changed clothes, and entered the kitchen just as coffee was ready. She took her morning newspaper from outside the door and sat down behind the desk, made herself a sandwich, so she could enjoy her dinner while going over the news.

"El, you need to get up," Olivia said over the paper.

Elliot moved reluctantly from the couch and headed towards the bathroom. When he re-entered fully dressed for work, Olivia poured him a cup of coffee, poured herself a second cup and looked at the time – they still had time.

"I really like those mornings, when we have time to have a cup of coffee and talk over the newspaper," Elliot said.

"It is nice," she agreed.

Her phone interrupted the silence and she went to bedroom to answer it. Elliot made himself a sandwich and picked up the discarded newspaper.

"They have Thatcher in custody and ready for interrogation," Olivia announced.

"Nothing better than starting a day with breaking a perp," Elliot said.

Olivia tilted her head and disappeared back to the bedroom.

They made it to precinct by the time Munch and Fin finished with Michael Thatcher – their current perp.

"Did he confess already?" Elliot asked and dropped off his jacket, Olivia did the same.

"Nope," Fin replied and slouched behind his desk.

"Our masculinity seemed to be a bit too much for him," Munch explained.

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "And that's what I'm here for," she said with mischievous smile.

"Don't overdo it, he might remember that he has a right for a lawyer," Munch warned.

"We got it," Elliot said.

He grabbed the casefile from Fin and followed Olivia inside the interrogation room, where Olivia got a chance to pour her anger and frustration into interrogation with hopes to get their rapist talking. Elliot sat back and observed the scene in front of him, occasionally offering a comment, but most of the time he wished that he'd never be on the other side of Olivia's interrogation.

She finally got him riled up just enough that Elliot had to come between and push Thatcher pack to his seat, before he could attack or even touch Olivia, who stayed in her place and even didn't flinch at the sudden moves.

"Detective Benson," Cragen said from doorway. He looked oddly serious and even worried, considering they had their perp, who was about to confess if Olivia could keep up her interrogation.

"Captain," Olivia acknowledged their CO and turned quickly back to Thatcher to send a clear signal, that she was not done with Thatcher yet.

"I need you now," Cragen said urgently.

Olivia gave one last look at Thatcher, ignored the worry radiating from Elliot and followed Cragen in anger, pulling the door shut after her.

Elliot took a moment to figure out if she'd be coming back or if he should leave too, but then decided against it and smiled at Thatcher.

"So, it's just you and me, Mickey," Elliot said. "Wanna tell me what happened before my partner gets back?" he asked.

"I'm not scared of her, but you seem to be. So, I guess I'll wait until she returns," Michael Thatcher said and leaned back on his chair, crossed his hands on the table and smiled.

Elliot mimicked him and continued with the questions, hoping Olivia would come back already. She didn't, so after exhausting interrogation, which didn't lead anywhere, Elliot decided to call it and try again later.

The squad room was rather quiet, only Munch was sitting behind his desk and Cragen was in his office behind closed door.

"Where is everybody?" Elliot asked, his true intent of course was finding Olivia.

"Fin is taking a break, which means he's probably snoring upstairs," Munch said without looking up from the computer screen. "But I assume you're not interested in my partner's whereabouts," he added and looked up at Elliot, who sat behind his desk.

"Olivia's coat is gone with her other personal belongings," Elliot stated. He had noticed the empty desk as soon as he entered the squad room, he also saw the items on her desk just like she left the night before. She must have left right after Cragen pulled her out.

"She left with very handsome suit, probably FBI," Munch mused. "Maybe she went back undercover," he suggested.

"She would have told me if that was the case," Elliot said confidently.

"Like she's never done that before," Munch commented.

Elliot was speechless as the bitter reminder of her undercover stint came to his mind and how she did leave without even notifying him.

"But it could've been whoever," Munch added.

Elliot grunted and checked his messages, then decided to work on his paperwork for Thatcher's case while he waits for Olivia to return and they'd take another round at the rapist.

Cragen descended from his office in the afternoon, when Munch had already left for the day and Fin was in court for the remainder of his shift. Elliot hadn't noticed the time flying, because he was committed to getting his papers in order for the case and so he wasn't worried about his partner.

"How'd it went with Thatcher?" Cragen asked.

Elliot shrugged his shoulders.

"He's a prick and he's so confident in his actions like he is above the law. I don't think he expects us to nail him," Elliot gave his assessment.

"So, you're nowhere?" Cragen clarified.

"Yes, he wants to talk to Olivia," Elliot replied.

Cragen looked troubled. "That's gonna be a problem," he said seriously.

"Why? Where's Liv?" Elliot asked the questions he wanted to ask since he left the interrogation room.

"I don't know where she is, but I don't think she'll be back," Cragen replied.

Elliot considered the answer and decided not to push for more at that moment.

"Go take another round at Thatcher, maybe he's calmed down and would consider telling his story to you as well. Take a few tricks from Benson's playbook and see what happens," Cragen ordered.

"I don't think me batting my eyelashes or talking seductively will work on that guy," Elliot commented.

"You never know," Cragen said with a smile. "Or you can show compassion and try to be sensible, maybe he'll flip, but sometimes it works to show some similarities with the guy. Just go in there and do your thing," he ordered seriously.

"Yes, cap," Elliot replied.

Cragen looked around the squad room and left the precinct – he had to be in court as well. With that Elliot was left alone in the dimly lit room, but not for long, because looked over the evidence they had on Thatcher and went back to interrogation.

It was late night, when Elliot's peace was disrupted.

"Thought you'd be home by now," Olivia said as she entered the squad room.

"Took another round at Thatcher," Elliot said while writing his report. "Cragen didn't think you'd be back," he added.

"Well, neither did I," Olivia said heavily and took a seat behind her desk.

She took off her coat and looked over messages left for her, placed her keys and phone on the table and turned to Elliot.

"Tough day," she said. It truly had been with interrogation at the FBI, meeting Dean again and being accused of helping rapist escape, then the confrontation with Julia Millfield, which ended with Riverpark PD captain accusing her of being in love with Simon, who she thought was a rapist. This day could only get better.

Elliot looked up at her for the first time since she arrived. He had to admit she looked tired.

"Munch said you left with some suit," Elliot commented, not elaborating like Munch had. Olivia stared at Elliot for a good moment wondering how much he knew. "Munch should mind his own business," she replied.

"Okay," Elliot accepted the answer. "But he also said he was good-looking, do I need to worry there?" he asked calmly and dropped his pen.

Olivia scratched her neck, considering a lie for a moment, but then decided to go with truth. "Just my FBI case agent from the undercover gig needed some information," she said simply. Olivia thought Elliot didn't need to get pissed at her for what had been happening with her brother.

Elliot turned back to his case file in front of him and picked up the pencil he dropped before. "Well I went at macho man for two hours and, uh, he wouldn't spill the beans," he talked about his day. "He'd uh… only speak with you," he continued and sent a smile at her.

"No time like the present," Olivia said and got up from her desk.

Elliot didn't follow her instantly. He finished his sentence and went to Cragen's office instead.

"Thatcher gave in?" Cragen asked.

"No, but he's about to. Liv's there with him," Elliot said and pointed towards the interrogation room. Cragen stood from his desk and followed Elliot to the observation.

They got there to see Thatcher being handcuffed to the table and Olivia boldly asking questions. She looked sure of herself and a little too riled up for Elliot's liking.

She slapped Thatcher's head and walked around the desk.

"What's she doing?" Cragen asked Elliot.

"Thatcher's an anger rapist, she's just trying to rile him up," Elliot explained, though both men knew it wasn't the truth, still they chose to go with it.

"She'd better rile herself down or I'm taking her out of there," Cragen said seriously. The precinct couldn't handle another rogue, violent detective and so far, Olivia had usually been the calm, warm empathy of the place.

The quiet took over as Olivia once again accused Thatcher and leaned close enough for the other to feel uncomfortable.

"She's getting somewhere," Elliot said confidently.

As Olivia grabbed his jaw, Thatcher fought against it and grabbed her wrist with both of his hands, gripping it tightly while he tormented Olivia.

"Now I get it. I get it now. You got a thing for perverts. Is that's why you do sex crimes? Someone diddle you when you were a kid?" Thatcher tormented the detective.

"Or he's getting to her," Cragen added.

Olivia and Thatcher stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

"Olivia, come on, don't react," Elliot said quietly on the other side of the glass.

But she did. Olivia grabbed her hand from Thatcher's hold and slammed his head against the table.

"You bastard, tell me you raped them," Olivia demanded and pulled the chair from under him.

"You raped them" Didn't you? Huh? Right," Olivia screamed as she started kicking Thatcher with her boot while Thatcher was on the floor with his hand still cuffed to the table.

"I'm taking her out of there," Cragen announced just as he could react to Olivia's actions. Both him and Elliot stormed into the interrogation room.

"Just admit it," Olivia demanded.

"Yes, I did it, yes," Thatcher finally said under beating from Olivia.

That's when Cragen and Elliot entered the room, Cragen went straight to Olivia to pull her away. "That's enough! Get off him!" Cragen yelled in entering. As he ran towards Olivia, he had his one hand ready to wrap around Olivia, and that he did. When she was at a safe distance, he wrapped his other hand around her midsection and locked his fingers to secure his grip on her.

Elliot was right behind Cragen, he looked worriedly at Olivia, who was in Cragen's secure grip.

"Get off me," she shouted and broke Cragen's hold and stormed off the interrogation room.

Elliot reached his hand backwards to catch her, but she was out of the room as fast as she could.

"Deal with him," Cragen said to Elliot and followed Olivia, while Elliot was left to examine the damage Olivia did to Thatcher, starting with uncuffing him.

Cragen reached Olivia in the squad room and he was glad that it was empty for once.

"What the hell is your problem?" Cragen asked loudly.

"We got a confession, didn't we?" Olivia said in anger and turned to face her CO.

"And what part of that do you think is gonna stand up in court?" Cragen asked and pointed towards the interrogation room. "A five-year-old could have done a better job!"

"Then go hire one," Olivia snapped back.

"I've had it with your crap," Cragen said seriously.

Olivia turned around to leave the argument, but Cragen grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her. "We are not finished yet," he demanded.

"You get your hands off me," Olivia said and pulled her hand off his grip.

Cragen stared at Olivia and she stared right back, both angry enough to fully light up the dark and dim office and there would probably be some electricity left over.

"You go home. Now," Cragen spoke finally. He was calm, but firm. He wasn't in a mood to have a massive fight with one of his best detectives and he knew Olivia wasn't usually like that, but it must have been the meeting with the FBI about her brother.

Olivia left the squad room, Cragen watched after as she went, not sure if he should've had suspended her or not.

"Thatcher's fine," Elliot said as he stood beside the Captain. "Uni's are taking him to booking," he added.

Cragen nodded, he had forgotten about him for a moment. "Same can't be said about your partner," Cragen said.

"Look, I don't know what got into her," Elliot said quickly.

"Figure it out, because that's not a behavior I'll tolerate," Cragen said with anger and descended to his office, the door slammed shut after him.

Elliot headed to the lockers, where Olivia was.

"What was that?" he asked upon entering.

She was standing in front of her locker. She already had her coat on and handbag in hand.

"Thatcher got what he deserved," she said simply and continued buttoning her coat.

"No, I'm talking about you. What are you doing?" Elliot asked firmly and slammed the locker door shut.

"Oh, the poster boy for rage is gonna tell me how to control my anger?" Olivia asked and raised an eyebrow. As Elliot didn't react, she grabbed her handbag and threw it over her shoulder.

"Liv, what's going on?" he asked calmly and crossed his hands on his chest.

Olivia leaned against the locker and looked away from him. "The feds nailed me for sending Simon money," Olivia said finally.

Elliot looked around to make sure they were alone, which they were, and leaned in. "Cragen wouldn't let you near here, if he knew the feds were charging you," he said quietly.

"They're gonna cut me a break if I turn him in when he contacts me," Olivia explained and looked at Elliot.

"Your FBI boyfriend saved your ass?" Elliot asked coldly.

"Elliot," she reprimanded. "Agent Porter is not after me, it's Simon they want."

"His DNA is on the victim. The cops in Jersey have him cold," Elliot said loudly.

"I knew that, when I sent him the money," she said calmly.

Elliot was surprised and stretched his hand out against the locker so it was mere inches from her. "So, why'd you do it?" he asked.

"He's my brother," she explained.

"You don't even know the guy. Look at what he's doing to you," Elliot said roughly. "I don't wanna see you go to jail or have a mark in your jacket for this. He's using you and your lack of family. And most certainly, you talk to me about things like that. How can I trust you, if you keep things from me? I'm your partner, for better or for worse."

"I didn't want to pull you down with me," Olivia said weakly.

Elliot lowered his hand and rested it against her side. "But I already am down with you. Trust me, Liv," he said gently.

Olivia stared at him for a moment. "Cragen wants me out of here," she said and made a move, but Elliot didn't stand aside. He had his arm around her middle and the other fell to her back as he pulled her in for a hug.

"You are not alone," he whispered.

"I am in this. Don't let it drag you down too, I never wanted you to be involved in this. This is my family, this is my mess," she said firmly and pulled away slightly.

Elliot kissed her temple. "Wait a moment, I'll come with you," he replied.

Olivia shook her head.

"Maybe you should stay at your place tonight," Olivia suggested.

"No," Elliot violently shook his head. "I will not leave you alone in a first sign of trouble. However it goes, I'll be by your side and you are not pushing me away. Whatever you need to do, you tell me and I'll support you even if I don't agree with you, because that's what a good boyfriend does," he explained.

"I need to be alone right now," Olivia said.

"Okay," he said easily. "I'll finish up in here and come by in some time."

Olivia nodded. She rose to her tiptoes, took his head in her hands and pressed her lips against his. Elliot pulled her close to him and responded to her lips moving on his.

She pulled away, released his head, and kissed down his neck until she reached his gray shirt. "If you're so persistent of coming to my place today, then maybe we can agree to sleep in the bed today," she said.

"Yes, please," Elliot said with a relief.

Olivia rose to her tiptoes and brought her lips to his ear. "Just so you know, today I have more than enough angry energy to work through," Olivia whispered.

"I'll know how to take care of that," Elliot replied.

Olivia nodded with a smirk playing on her lips.

Elliot leaned down and kissed her once more before she left the locker room and headed home. He adjusted his pants, which had most certainly gotten tighter and went back to his desk to finish his report on Michael Thatcher.

As soon as he sat down behind his desk, Cragen appeared from his office.

"What was your partner thinking?" Cragen demanded.

Elliot shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think she was thinking at all," he offered.

"I can't have rogue detectives here," Cragen said.

"I know," Elliot replied.

"Does your partner?" Cragen asked.

Elliot looked up at his boss and tried to read the older man, but he couldn't.

"Liv is a decorated detective, she's dedicated and good at her job. She's not rogue," Elliot defended Olivia.

"I know just how good of a detective Benson is. But I also know that lately I've been having more problems with her than any other detective," Cragen explained. "I need her head in the game or I can't have her here. What happened in the interrogation can't happen again."

"It won't, Cap," Elliot said confidently. "It's her brother, once he's in jail, she'll go back to being her regular caring self."

"I surely hope so," Cragen replied.

"Don't worry, everything will go back to normal soon," Elliot tried to convince Cragen as well as himself.

"Good," Cragen replied. "I'm headed out now, I suggest you do the same. Maybe have a nice talk with your girlfriend and I expect you back here tomorrow."

"Good night," Elliot replied.

Cragen walked out of the room, so Elliot was alone in the dark empty squad room. He looked at the time and noticed it was indeed way too late, so he turned off his computer, closed the case file and collected his things and left the room for the night.

He made it to Olivia's and saw the light on her window, which meant she was not asleep yet. Elliot smiled at himself, thinking of the night he was going to have with Olivia, if she's still up to fulfilling the promise she made earlier before leaving.

Elliot walked up the stairs to her apartment, took out his keys to unlock the door, but to his surprise the door wasn't locked, so he entered the hallway and locked the door after him.

"Honey, I'm home," he announced as he took off his coat and finally saw her. To his great surprise, she wasn't alone in the living room. There was a tall handsome guy with dark brown hair and tanned skin sitting right beside her on the couch, both looking over some pictures lying on the table.

"Hey," Olivia greeted from the couch and lifted her head so she could look at him.

Elliot looked puzzled, even a bit of jealous, but most of all he was curious.

"You must be Olivia's partner I've have heard so much about," the guy beside Olivia said and stood up.

"And you are?" Elliot asked and squinted his eyes. He took a step forward to make sure the other guy saw the glock on his hip.

Olivia interfered the exchange, which was not polite, at least from Elliot's side. "I forgot you haven't officially met. Elliot, this is FBI agent Dean Porter, he was my case agent. Dean, this is detective Elliot Stabler, my partner from NYPD," Olivia made the introductions.

The men came close and shook their hands.

"I'm also the boyfriend," Elliot grunted.

"Figured that much," Dean replied. "I heard about you while working with Olivia. She could really be annoying."

"Heard about you too," Elliot said with his best fake face.

"Isn't that nice," Olivia commented.

Dean and Elliot broke the handshake, when they were reminded of Olivia in the room. Elliot got closer to Olivia, hugged her with one hand and kissed her temple, while glancing at Dean over her head. Olivia responded to the hug, but he could tell she was not too willing, but for the moment he's goal was to make sure the other man knew exactly with whom Olivia was with.

"What's going on?" Elliot asked, when he released Olivia.

"We're trying to figure out where Simon Marsden could be," Dean replied. He was already back to looking over the photographs and was paying little to no attention to Olivia and Elliot.

Elliot took a seat in the armchair crossed his leg over the other and took a photo in his hands to make it look like he was helping, while in fact he was just there to keep an eye on Olivia and Dean.

"He said he was going home," Olivia said out loud.

"I have agents sitting his house in Jersey, he hasn't arrived there yet," Dean replied.

Olivia sighed and leaned back on the couch. She took the yearbook in her hands and flipped the pages.

"Here," she said and placed it in front of Dean with her finger on Simon's yearbook photo. "Simon's senor class picture," she explained.

"You should have seen mine. I had a mullet," Dean commented.

"I had feathered hair and wore acid washed jeans," Olivia shared.

Dean looked at her and Olivia glanced at the FBI agent. Both laughed for a good moment.

"I had the shag and wore a lot of denim," Elliot added.

Olivia winked at him and flipped the page.

"Moorepark Mustangs," Dean read from the page. "Where's Moorepark?" he asked.

"It's up near Orange County," Olivia replied. Her eyes grew wide as she made a realization. "Wait a minute," she said.

"I'm waiting," Dean said easily.

Olivia flipped the pages of the yearbook. "I remember seeing an old address for Simon," she said and found what he was looking for at the last page, which she read out loud.

"Simon said he was going home, so maybe he's going back there," Dean suggested.

"Maybe the mother still lives there," Olivia said. "We gotta check this out."

Dean nodded.

"But not today," he said. "I'll make some phone calls, have operations check it out."

"Good," Olivia agreed.

They looked at each other with determination, with hints of victory.

Elliot cleared his throat to let them know he was also there. "Any more plans for today?" he asked casually.

Dean leaned back at Elliot's interruption, away from her and focused on the pictures on the table, while Olivia did the same, but she glanced at her boyfriend, who was far from happy.

"Don't think we can do anything else tonight," Olivia mused.

Dean agreed and stood from the couch. "I assume you wanna take the trip, so I'll come pick you up tomorrow at 8?" Dean asked.

"Sounds good," Olivia replied and got up to walk Dean out.

"What about doing your actual job tomorrow?" Elliot asked, he stood as well.

"I have the day off," Olivia replied.

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow then," Dean said.

Olivia smiled and nodded. She sent him to the door and accepted his friendly hug on the doorway.

"Take care of yourself," he said.

"You too," Olivia replied.

With that Dean stepped out of the apartment and Olivia locked the door behind him. She got back to Elliot, who had his arms crossed on his chest and gave her the best interrogation stare he could.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"You seemed rather cozy here with Dean," Elliot said, doing his best to be casual.

"We worked together for a few months. He's a good guy," Olivia replied.

"I can see that. He obviously has high opinion about you too," Elliot grunted.

Olivia smiled. "We have a mutual understanding, respect and friendship," she explained.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you'd be more than just friends," Elliot said.

Olivia closed the distance between them and placed her palms on his crossed hands. She raised to her tiptoes to kiss Elliot, but moved his head away, so she couldn't. Olivia frowned and took a step backwards.

"I don't care what he wants or doesn't want. I'm with you," Olivia explained.

"Are you? Today you said you wanted to be alone and then you call him over. You always call him, when I'm working late or staying in my apartment?" Elliot asked.

"No!" Olivia said fast. "Simon called me tonight and I had promised to let Dean know, so I did. He got away, almost ran me over and we came here to figure out his next move. You came home right after we got here," she explained slowly.

"You just bring random strangers here?" Elliot asked.

Olivia raised her eyebrow, crossed her hands on her chest and stared at Elliot, considering her answer. "According to you I did that quite often," she snapped back, referring to his accusation of her being easy from few days earlier.

"I come home from work and find you here with another man. What am I supposed to think?" Elliot asked.

"I was working with Dean, fully clothed. I don't freak out every time you talk to another woman," Olivia tried. "Look, your jealously could be really sexy, but it is not anymore. Seems like I can't say anything right, you have your own mind made up, so go with whatever you seem fitting. We're both tired, so I'm gonna go to bed," Olivia said calmly.

"You're gonna walk out in the middle of the fight?" Elliot asked.

Olivia nodded. "It would be nice not to fight for a change. And I'm tired of fighting. Maybe we should see someone or end this altogether," she said through a yawn.

"Run, yeah, that's what you do best," Elliot grunted.

"You're making it rather impossible to stay. Pull yourself together, because right now you're arguing over nothing. We both know there's nothing to fight over at this moment," Olivia said.

"You're right. It's not about Porter or any of this," Elliot said defeatedly.

"Then what is it?" Olivia asked.

"Kathy called before, when you were in FBI," Elliot said.

"Oh," Olivia replied with surprise. "Something wrong?" she asked casually.

Elliot shook his head.

"There's some parent-teacher conference for Dickie. Apparently the one for Lizzie was last week, but Kathy failed to let me know and she attended that with her new boyfriend. They broke up and now Kathy wants me there," Elliot rambled.

"You're their father, you should be there," Olivia said.

"I know," Elliot said loudly. He exhaled loudly, sat on the couch and kept on staring at the table, specifically catching an eye of young Olivia in a fancy dress. "I'm never there and Kathy's ex-boyfriend was more of a father than I was. I wish everything would be simple and not this mess after our divorce. And it's not your fault, but I just need to manage my time between kids and work and you better," he said.

Elliot took the photo of Olivia in his hands and watched it. She was gorgeous, yet she couldn't have been older than 20. For a moment, he thought about his life if the girl he met at the party was Olivia, if he'd married her back then, had kids with dark hair and beautiful brown eyes. He wondered if he'd be living in a Manhattan apartment or would they live in some house in Queens, like the one Kathy has now, or would he still be living in a small apartment, and Olivia has the house with kids. He wondered if he'd be a cop or if she'd be a SVU detective, maybe one of them would be in homicide or gang unit or cold cases, or maybe she'd have quit NYPD after having kids. Elliot wondered if they'd be together after 20 years of marriage, and if they'd still be happy? A gnawing thought slipped through his mind of going to see his kids and seeing Olivia there with Dean being more than just friendly.

"El?"

Olivia's voice brought Elliot back to the present and he looked at Olivia, who looked back with questions all over her face.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked with curiosity.

Elliot glanced at the photo of a young Olivia, looked at the woman standing at the other side of the table and smiled. "You," he said sheepishly. "I'm always thinking about you," he added.

Olivia gave him a tired smile.

"Come here," he requested and held his arms wide open for her.

Olivia obliged and fell into his waiting arms. She sat on his lap facing him with her knees on either side of him and she clutched his gray long-sleeved shirt.

"So we're done fighting?" Olivia asked warily.

"We never should have been fighting," Elliot replied. "But for the record I don't like that guy around you," he added.

"Noted," she said.

"Now, let's get to the pleasurable part of the night, if you're still up for it?" he asked seductively. His hands went to her hair and pulled it from her neatly made ponytail. He threw the rubber band on the table, kept his hand on her back while the other was in her hair.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she said with a happy smile.

Elliot pressed his palm against the back of her head and leaned upwards to kiss her. Olivia moved into the kiss willingly, arched her back and pressed him back against the couch. Her hands were all over him, running up and down over his flat muscular chest and back.

He moved his hands downwards and reached the hem of her vest. He tugged it and pulled it up, Olivia moved her arms up to help him pull it off and broke the kiss.

"You know I really like your shirt," Olivia said and bit her lip. He was still wearing his gray long-sleeved shirt, which for some reason was one of Olivia's favorites. Maybe it was the way the shirt made his muscles stand out, the way he rolled up the sleeves and looked incredibly attractive to Olivia.

Elliot smirked, wrapped an arm around her back and pulled away from the couch. Olivia used the time to pull it off his chest and threw it on the floor. "I bet it looks better on the floor," he said. Olivia pressed his palm against his muscular abdomen and nodded. "This looks better indeed," she agreed. He kissed her neck the way he knew she liked. Olivia rewarded him with a low moan, then threw her head back to give him more access and her fingers moved to unbutton her shirt.

He latched onto her skin and sucked just below her right ear. Elliot half-expected Olivia to reprimand him, but she only moaned and moved her head slightly, her fingers still fighting with the buttons of her shirt.

Finally, she managed to get her shirt off and toss it on the armchair by the couch. Elliot instantly moved on to the newly exposed skin just above her breasts, but to his great surprise he was met with the material of her bra, denying him full access to her breasts. He traced the material to her back, but at last minute decided not to unclip it, his hands touched her hair and he pulled them lightly.

Olivia dragged her nails on his back, at last her fingers reached his belt and she slipped her fingers underneath it, his hot skin underneath her touch. She didn't thread further, she moved her fingers to the belt loop and released it.

"No foreplay with you, huh?" Elliot asked teasingly, when she undid the button and zipper of his jeans.

"Didn't the fight about Dean do its job?" Olivia deadpanned and pulled away, she pressed her palms to his chest to keep the distance.

Elliot frowned. "And you just killed the mood," he complained, his hands fell from her to the couch.

She pressed her lips to his, slipped her tongue to his mouth and got a response more than eager for her to continue whatever she was doing. His hands were back tracing her spine, coaxing her closer to him.

Olivia pulled away abruptly, Elliot gave him a look full of questions.

"I think the mood is back," she smirked.

Elliot grunted loudly. He recovered by starting to remove her jeans, which ended in a struggle along with loud grunts and frustration over failure to remove their jeans in the position. In the end, Olivia stood to free herself and Elliot used the time to push his jeans down to his ankles.

She climbed back to his lap, Elliot locked his fingers on her back the moment she did, and her lips attacked his neck.

"Should we take this to the bedroom?" Olivia whispered to his ear.

Elliot shook his head. "We're good here, where your FBI boyfriend sat before," Elliot smirked.

Olivia threw her head back and laughed. "So be it," she agreed. She also made a mental note not to tell Dean about the new nickname he got and about the way he managed to make Elliot jealous, which led to amazing night of passion from the couch to their bedroom and into the shower.

***SVU***

The next morning Dean was waiting in front of her building, when Olivia and Elliot got out. Elliot made sure to kiss her in front of Dean, before the two departed. Olivia got into Dean's car, he briefed her on the developments of the case and discussed the next steps. That topic died out way too soon considering the length of the drive.

"Elliot didn't seem too happy about my presence last night," Dean said casually.

Olivia laughed, she flashed back to when Elliot confidently fucked her, where Dean had sat and in his mind claimed her yet again. "No, he wasn't," she confirmed.

"Hopefully I didn't cause any problems," Dean said, though Olivia wasn't sure if he really meant that.

She shook her head. "No, we're good," she replied. Olivia pulled the scarf around her neck tighter against her skin as Elliot had managed to mark her neck in the process of coming undone, and she was not going to show it around.

"He seems nice, a bit of a caveman-like, but nice. Of course, once he gets past this angry brooding attitude," Dean commented.

"He was just surprised to find you in my apartment last night," Olivia explained.

"No, I get it. If the roles were reversed, I'd have acted just as he did. No hard feelings there. I'm glad things worked out for you," Dean said truthfully.

"Thanks," Olivia responded. "How about you? Anything interesting you wanna tell me?"

Dean glanced at Olivia quickly, then continued looking at the road. "A lot of interesting things have happened, but unfortunately they're all classified, so I really can't talk about it," he said with a smile.

"There must be something interesting you've done in the past months, that you can talk about," Olivia prompted.

Dean chuckled. "I did go on a date with this woman, who was more interested in getting her hands on my gun and misleading me on a case I was working at the time than anything else. I later discovered that she was a sister of a fugitive I was chasing at the time," he said.

Olivia laughed.

"I almost thought you were talking about me," she said through laugher.

Dean laughed too.

"You haven't made a single attempt to get my gun yet," he said.

"Maybe because I have one on my hip and I really don't need yours," Olivia explained.

Dean tilted his head. "Then we can cut to the chase and I can arrest you right now so you can go straight to serving time," he suggested.

"Pass."

Dean laughed. "God choice. I'd rather have a dedicated and passionate detective like you putting away criminals than share a cell with them," he complimented Olivia. "Plus, I believe you're better with victims than your partner."

"Elliot can be good with victims as well, though usually women and children are more open with a female detective as sex offenders are more likely males," Olivia explained.

"So, you've put away female sex offenders as well?" Dean asked.

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, we've had cases like that. Just a few months ago we had a case, where a mother was abusing her kids sexually. The kids had been under the reign of their manipulating mother for too long and it took us a long time to get them to trust us. In fact then it was Elliot, who got the son to talk to us," she explained and thought about one case she'd been carrying with her for some time.

"Ouch, I haven't had to chase any woman yet," Dean said.

Olivia breathed heavily, flashes of the case and court proceedings flashing in her mind.

"How long have you been with this task force?" Olivia asked.

"Since October."

"That's when we were working together," Olivia said.

"I asked to be reassigned after I got back to New York," Dean explained. "I guess the case we worked together there got to me."

"You mean the case you told me to stay away from?" Olivia threw at him good heartedly.

"The one and only. But I'm glad of your inability to take orders, at least from me. But that made me realize that terrorists and murderers are not the only criminals to chase," Dean explained. "Yet, I don't have to handle the victims."

"You know one of the most satisfying moment in this job is seeing the rapist getting a guilty verdict and the victim starting to heal. It's good to see how far they've come and how they refuse to let one horrible thing that happened to them define the rest of their lives. These are the moments I like to think about," Olivia replied.

"I saw you with Britney and realized that I couldn't do it," Dean confessed. "I'll stick to my guns and chase criminals."

"And I'll stand by the victims as they get their justice," Olivia added.

"See, it's the perfect division of labor," Dean said with a grin.

Olivia grinned back.

"So you think today we'll give another victim the knowledge that their rapist is captured?" Dean asked.

"I hope so," Olivia said heavily.

"Will you be okay with me arresting Marsden?" Dean asked carefully.

"Yes," Olivia said.

"No," she corrected after a moment. "I don't know," she said finally. "He's my brother by blood, but like Elliot keeps reminding me I barely know him. Maybe some scientists were right and violence runs in genes, I just express mine for the law not against it."

"You don't seriously believe that, do you?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Olivia replied and shook her head. "My head's a mess right now, I don't think my opinion should be taken too seriously," she added.

They passed the Moorepark sign and Olivia took out the map Dean had taken along. She instructed him until they reached the house, where Marsden's mother could be living.

"Just let me do the talking," Dean requested.

Olivia nodded.

They both got out of the car and entered the yard. Even though the nurse confirmed that Simon's mother still lived there, her Alzheimer made it impossible to get any relevant information out of her. Though she remembered Olivia, who took the lead in talking to Mrs. Marsden, during the conversation she learned more about her father than she had in past decades. In the end she was starting to doubt if her mother was raped at all, because her father had tried to call her and he told his wife that he had a daughter – he was too interested in Olivia for a regular rapist.

They left, when Mrs. Marsden's memory halted. They did learn that Simon was there the day earlier and Joe left Simon his house in Florida on Route 94. As they walked out of the house, Dean was already on the phone to get exact location of this house, while Olivia walked out deep in thought. He stayed behind, but Olivia stayed on the porch, which made her realize what she needed to do, and it was something Porter wouldn't be able to help her with.

"Operations found a Route 94 in Kendall, just south of Miami. There's two plane tickets waiting for us at LaGuardia," Dean said as he pulled Olivia out of her trance and announced the developments.

"Waiting for us?" Olivia clarified.

"Well, I don't think Simon would risk using his ID in an airport, so he's either driving or taking a train or bus. We might be able to beat him if we get there fast enough," Dean explained.

Olivia looked down. "Thanks, but I think I'm gonna pass," she said seriously.

Dean was dumbfounded. "I thought you wanted closure," he dragged out, not sure why Olivia was saying no.

"I do," she confirmed. "But not with Simon," she added.

Dean nodded, he understood. Olivia needed closure with the father, not with her half-brother. "With his father," he spoke up.

Olivia nodded.

They started walking towards the car.

"You heard what Simon's mother said. He has a picture of me, he tried to call me and he told his wife about his daughter. I need to know who this man was," Olivia explained.

Dean nodded. "You gonna be okay?" he asked with worry, he had noticed the tear falling down her cheek before when Simon's mother talked to her.

Olivia was silent for a moment.

"Yeah," she said and pulled her scarf tigher around her neck to protect it against the chilly wind. "Go, get your plane, so you're not late," Olivia urged.

"Call me," she requested.

"I will. If you need any help, call me, you'd be surprised by the information FBI has or is able to acquire," Dean said.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said with a smile.

"And stay out of trouble," Dean replied with a smile.

Olivia nodded and walked off, then turned back to Dean. "Can you give me a lift?" she asked.

"Where?" Dean asked.

"To coroner's office," Olivia replied.

Dean tilted his head and pointed to the car, Olivia smiled and thanked him. Dean made a quick phone call to get the address, once he did, he drove off and dropped Olivia in front of the building, then drove away to get to his plane.

Olivia spent the whole day chasing the ghost of his father. At first she met with the coroner, then took a bus back to Manhattan and took one of the unused squad cars from the precinct. She headed to Joe's work place and from there straight to the archives. What she learned was that Joseph Hollister was clinically depressed, his cause of death was suicide, he and her mother probably met at Columbia university dining hall, where Serena was working at the time and Joe's company delivered food there. She also found 2 similar attacks from the same time, where the victims worked at dining halls. Her last stop was the FBI, but she didn't go to Dean – she needed the advice from Huang.

Everything suddenly made her doubt Serena, she had lied to Olivia about many things and maybe she also lied about Olivia's father. Huang managed to calm Olivia's nerves and ease the doubt a little bit, but not enough.

Olivia's mind was full of different scenarios of what had happened and was happening with Simon, the whirlwind of ideas, doubts and hopes wore her out to the core, which made her emotionally exhausted, when she finally got back home.

Elliot was already there, he was sitting on the couch with his legs propped up on the table and he seemed rather interested in what was happening on the screen.

"What's on?" Olivia asked with curiosity.

"Soccer," Elliot replied without looking at her.

Olivia's eyes were wide open in surprise. "Since when are you interested in soccer?" she asked with suspicion.

"Since I came home and it was on. I'm still trying to figure out all the rules of the game," Elliot replied.

Olivia dropped her coat, removed her badge and gun, kicked off her boots and collapsed right next to Elliot on the couch.

"Who are playing?" Olivia asked.

"Some European clubs, Manchester United and Roma," Elliot replied.

Olivia looked at the score on the screen. "Only 4-0?" Olivia questioned.

"No, it's not only. 4 goals in soccer match is very good, plus it's only half-time. On average it's like 2-3 goals per match, but no goals at all is not rare either," Elliot explained.

"For someone who doesn't take interest in soccer you know rather much," Olivia commented.

"Kathleen played in school team in the middle school. She took an interest and I might still remember something," Elliot explained.

"Right, I remember. What position did she play again?" Olivia asked.

"Forward. She was pretty good at scoring, but then puberty hit and she quit sports," Elliot spoke.

"Oh, the good old times," Olivia said with sarcasm.

Elliot turned to Olivia for the first time since her arrival. He lifted his arm and put it around her. Olivia snuggled to his side. "You seemed to have managed it pretty well, considering how amazing you are now," he said.

"Same goes for you," she replied.

Elliot tilted his head. "A few kids and a failed marriage later, but yeah," he commented.

"You've been a good man as long as I've known you," Olivia replied.

Erratic screams from the TV pulled their attention back to the screen.

"Goal," Elliot explained.

The screen showed Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating his second goal with his name running under the screen.

"Oh, he's hot," Olivia commented.

Elliot practically pushed her away from him, which surprised Olivia to the core.

"Are you passive aggressively telling me to grow my hair out?" he asked seriously.

"No," Olivia replied with hesitation.

"Then why all your TV-boyfriends have long hair?" he demanded.

"TV-boyfriends?" Olivia asked.

"Your McDreamy and now this Ronaldo boy. Not to mention Dean," Elliot pouted.

Olivia ignored his protests and leaned back comfortably against him. Elliot reluctantly accepted her, but still he had his arm around her. Olivia lifted her hand and ran her fingers through his short hair.

"I like your short hair," she said. "Imagine, when you're the one with long hair out of us. And for the record McDreamy is a character on a TV-show which I occasionally watch and I haven't seen a single soccer match in my life before. This Ronaldo is like 20 and I'm not that rich to have a boyfriend half my age."

"And agent Porter?" Elliot asked, still pouting.

"Not my type," she said casually.

"You sure as hell are his type," Elliot argued.

Olivia smiled and pulled away from him so she could see his face. "Feels like we already had this fight, so we can continue or skip the fight and you can sleep on the couch or we could just watch this soccer match and forget about Dean," Olivia gave him his options. "And just so you know, he's in Florida," Olivia added.

"Come here," Elliot replied.

Olivia stretched out at his side, placed her head on his lap and turned her attention back to the game on the TV, as did Elliot. He absentmindedly ran his fingers through her long brown hair, the other hand fell to her shoulder, where she caught it and closed her fingers around his.

"How was your day?" Olivia asked, when she remembered she didn't know what Elliot had been doing the whole day.

"We got a new case, woman was raped by her ex-husband, so we have a she-said-he-said case, but it's not our worry – Munch and Fin are chasing the leads and I'm stuck doing paperwork," Elliot explained. "But we did have a decent amount of fun, when ex-husband threw a glass of water in Munch's face. Even Cragen managed a smile, despite his late grimness."

Olivia laughed. "That grimness has anything to do with me?" she asked warily.

"Probably. Don't worry, he'll calm down once you prove your empathy is still there," Elliot replied calmly.

"Huh," Olivia chuckled.

"He might be playing the boss and everything, but he's just worried about you. We all are, we just express it differently," Elliot replied softly.

"You're worried too?" she asked.

"Of course," Elliot replied instantly. "I don't want your brother to take you down, you could lose your shield, your pension, your job. But I've realized it's my job to stand by your side and support you rather than fight you and force you into doing whatever I think is right. We both know that won't work with you," he explained.

"I'm fine. Porter is not gonna charge me, but I still need to see this through," Olivia said.

"Okay," he replied.

"I just want those answers. For once they I be closer than I ever thought I'd be able to get. This case, this chase for Simon might be the key, but you know Dean will be there and if that really bothers you that much, I can pull back or just avoid contact with him," Olivia said.

"I trust you and if this is what you need to do, then just do it. How was your day anyway? Did you find what you were looking for?" Elliot asked.

Olivia took a moment to compose her answer. She did find where Simon was and where she was headed, but on the other hand she chased down her father's ghost and that brought only more questions and in the end, she didn't find anything that would come as satisfying.

"We found Simon's trail, but Dean flew to Florida alone. I spent the day trying to get closure with the man, who fathered me," Olivia said honestly.

"Did you find it?" Elliot asked. "Closure, I mean. Did you get some closure?"

Olivia shook her head. "Only more questions," she said sadly.

"You wanna talk about it?" Elliot asked.

"I'm not sure if that man was a rapist, as I'm not sure if Simon is. Feels like I don't know anything anymore," Olivia said.

"What makes you doubt that?"

Olivia sighed. She took deep breaths and turned herself to her back so she was able to look at him, the game on the TV long forgotten.

"My mother was a drunk just like Hollister. It was 1967 and she wasn't married… Maybe it's just another thing my mother lied to me about. Besides he kept track of me, that's not a behavior we see often if at all," Olivia said.

"Liv, how many victims have you seen, who have been raped and gotten pregnant? How many of them were scared, because of their lifestyle – that they wouldn't be believed? And we don't know how many never report their abuse because of the shame or embarrassment, the way society treats them," Elliot reasoned.

"I know. I know. It just brings questions," Olivia replied.

"I've rarely seen you doubt a victim," he brought out.

Olivia reached her hand to his chest and hit him playfully. "Because that's your job," she joked.

"Sometimes," Elliot agreed. "If you really have questions, then we could go and take a look at the cold cases from that time. See if there are similar attacks…" Elliot offered.

"I did. I searched the archives," Olivia replied.

"And?" he prompted.

"There were 2 similar cases from around the same time. Both unsolved."

Elliot tilted his head. "You still doubt about your mother's rape?" he asked seriously.

Olivia breathed out heavily, shook her head lightly and made a face, which showed her uncertainty and questions.

"I wish she was still alive, so I could just ask her. But she's gone and the more I look around the more I seem to doubt everything," Olivia confessed.

"Okay," Elliot said calmly and turned off the TV.

Olivia looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You need to take your mind off this case and maybe tomorrow you'll have more luck in concentrating your mind," Elliot said.

"Maybe you're right," Olivia agreed.

"Tomorrow we'll run the other victims and see if one of them still lives in the area, so that way we can be sure, but there's nothing to do about it today," Elliot explained.

"Okay," Olivia replied.

Elliot dropped his palm on her neck and ran it over the mark he had left the night before.

"For the record I don't like being marked," Olivia commented.

"I know, you've denied me all of the fun for years now and I've tried to respect that," Elliot explained. "But yesterday was a rough day for us and knowing you have a reminder of our last night on your skin made me feel much better and secure."

Olivia nodded – she knew and even though she'd deny it, she somehow enjoyed acting like a teenager after some guy had left marks on her body, the hickies on her neck and sometimes on the chest, which were exciting and in a way of letting others know she had a boyfriend. Yet Olivia didn't fancy wearing scarfs and turtlenecks quite often.

"You want me to repay the favor?" she asked seductively.

Elliot smirked. His fingers caught her necklace he had given her some months ago after she got back from the Oregon. Then he got lower on her body and undid a button on her shirt, while intensely looking for a reaction.

"El, I'm all for you undressing me, but I'd rather you do it in the bedroom, where there is a bed," she suggested.

"Off we go," Elliot replied quickly.

Olivia laughed, when Elliot shoved her head out of his lap and got up hurriedly, then offered her his hand and pulled Olivia from the couch as well.

"What about the game?" Olivia asked suddenly.

"We'll look the score up tomorrow," Elliot replied.

He took her hand and led her towards the bedroom, but before they reached it, Olivia pulled his hand, pushed him against the wall and kissed him hard. She unbuttoned his dark green shirt and pressed herself against his bare chest. Elliot merely followed her lead and kissed her back, fully letting her do whatever she wanted as he didn't object, if anything he felt familiar arousal in his pants and pure want and need for her. When she finished unbuttoning his shirt and pressed herself against him, Elliot finally took control with his arms around her back he turned themselves around and instead of him Olivia found herself sandwiched between the wall and his chest. He pushed his shirt down and let it fall on the floor, when he continued unbuttoning her shirt. Olivia helped him with getting the shirt on the floor beside his.

Elliot unclipped her bra and Olivia eagerly let the item fall from her. She pulled her lips from his and moaned loudly. "Oh, this feels so good," she said with a great satisfaction.

"I'm not even done anything to you," Elliot smirked.

"Oh, darling, it's not you. The damn wires have been hurting me half of the day and it's so relieving to finally take the bra off," Olivia explained.

"In that case I will take extra care of your gorgeous boobs," Elliot said and true to his word, he moved his hands to her breasts and massaged them gently.

Olivia moaned.

She moved straight to his belt and undid it, her fingers already familiarizing themselves with his abdomen. She undid the button and the zipper of his jeans. Elliot followed her and moved onto removing her dark blue jeans.

Elliot moved his palms down her bottom and over her thighs as he pushed the jeans down, lingering there more than necessary, but he knew she wouldn't mind. He pushed her jeans down to her ankles and in process managed to get rid of his jeans as well.

He stood back up and lifted Olivia with him, who knew to wrap her long legs around his midsection.

"So instead of bed, you wanna do this against the wall?" Olivia asked and raised an eyebrow.

"You started by jumping me," Elliot responded.

"Remembered I didn't greet you when I got home and decided to fix it," she explained.

"You can greet me like that as many times as you want. I'm always up for it," he smirked.

Olivia returned the smirk, moved herself a bit so she could feel something poking her thigh. "Oh, you're up, that much I know," she commented.

"I vote for using that instead of letting some feelings go to waste," Elliot suggested.

"Oh, I know just what to do with that," Olivia replied. She could feel the wetness spreading and soaking her white cotton panties. She also was certain that he could feel it too against his warm skin.

"You wanna do it here?" he asked.

"Bed," she replied confidently.

"As you wish."

Elliot pulled her from the wall and walked Olivia to the bedroom. While covering the small distance to her bed, he kissed her again and to his pleasure he felt her hands on his neck, holding onto his short hair and her lips responding to his with urgency and want, the way she always did just before they had sex.

He placed her diagonally over the bed and climbed on top of her, kissing, touching, and loving her body the way he knew she liked. She wasn't holding back either – Olivia dragged her nails on his back hard enough for him to feel it, but not enough to draw blood, she moved her legs over his and finally locked her ankles just above his ass. She used her heels to push his boxers downwards, when he came to her aid and removed his last piece of clothing, so his erect member fell freely against her.

Olivia lifted herself off the bed and unhooked her ankles so Elliot could remove her panties and leave them both naked on the bed. Elliot fell into familiar rhythm with his one hand massaging her breasts and the other moving downwards exactly towards the place, where she wanted to be touched the most.

And he did touch her there.

"Oh, Liv," he moaned as he felt her wetness on his fingers.

"It's all you, boy. All you," Olivia replied.

"I like to hear that," he said mischievously.

He rubbed her clit with his fingers, which made her moan, but a real moan of pleasure came, when he slipped his fingers inside her.

"El," she breathed out.

"Yeah, Liv?" he replied innocently and kissed her neck, right where he could feel her fastening pulse under his lips.

Olivia suddenly moved her hand down and covered his, causing him to still his fingers inside of her. He looked up at her with questions – it wasn't like her to stop him. He pulled his fingers out and away from her opening, wondering what happened and what caused her to stop him from pleasuring her.

"You don't always have to do it, you know?" she said calmly.

"Do what?" Elliot was puzzled.

"Make sure that I come more than once every time," she clarified.

"You don't like that?" he asked, even more puzzled than before.

"Oh, I like it. Just seems unfair that I come at least twice and you usually just once," she pointed out.

Elliot kissed her cheek and brought his lips to her ear. "At least I come every time," he whispered. Olivia started caressing his back to offer some comfort as he still seemed to feel guilty over that one time.

Olivia sighed loudly and threw her head back. Her eyes fell shut. "It was just once long time ago," she said, remembering the time she didn't come and made what seemed now a stupid decision of telling him.

Elliot lifted his head, he pressed his elbow deep into the bed beside her.

"Well, I read that if women orgasm during the foreplay then they are more likely to come during intercourse as well," he confessed.

Olivia lifted her head and pressed her lips firmly against his. "You're amazing," she whispered gently against his lips.

"I know," he said cockily. "So are you."

Olivia leaned to kiss him again. This time he pressed his lips against her with more force and guided her head back to the bed, his elbow slipped and his body fell onto hers so there was no space in between, nothing to keep his weight from crushing her, but she didn't react to the sudden change. She did however tighten her grip on his back and hold him tight against her.

Elliot made a thrusting move, hitting her in the right places with his member, but didn't move further. He cradled the back of her head in his palm and enjoyed the feel of her long brown curls against his hand.

"So can I continue now?" he asked, when he finally broke the kiss.

Olivia nodded merely.

Elliot positioned himself better, so his hand could slip between them and continue with his previous task. He slipped one of his fingers inside her, took her right breast in his mouth, where he started running circles with his tongue, and massaged her left one with care and tenderness. Olivia momentarily gripped his short hair, but gave up and threw her hands over her head and grabbed onto the edge of the bed, when Elliot added another finger inside of her and started rubbing her clit with his thumb.

"Oh, god," she moaned.

Elliot pulled his mouth from her breast.

"The name's Elliot," he smirked and latched his mouth onto her left breast.

Olivia managed a small laugh, but then she felt her body getting close to a release.

"El," she moaned.

Elliot continued running circles around her erected nipple with his tongue, while his fingers continued moving inside of her with heightened pace and his thumb rubbed her clit. That's when Elliot felt Olivia buckle her hips upwards, arch her back and her inner muscles started contracting around his fingers. Elliot stilled his fingers and removed his mouth from her breast.

He kissed his way to her face and Olivia eagerly welcomed his lips on hers while she rode out her orgasm. He placed his elbows on the bed beside her and slipped his palms underneath her upper back.

Once she came down, Elliot removed his fingers and watched her catch her breath.

"What?" she asked under his gaze.

"Nothing," he replied, but kept his intense gaze on her.

"Obviously it's something," she insisted.

He blew a lost strand of hair out of her face and kissed her cheek.

"You look exceptionally beautiful after orgasming. The way you look at me with those gorgeous brown eyes with no worry in your mind. I just love the way relaxation, satisfaction and love mixes in your expressions. And knowing I was the cause for this is just amazing," he explained.

"Then look as much as you'd like," she replied.

"Oh, I will. And to think we're not done yet," he added.

Olivia came suddenly aware of his erected member against her lower abdomen, waiting to be granted permission to enter her and send them over the edge.

"Give me a moment," Olivia said.

Elliot kissed her lips, then moved downwards to her neck and stopped at her breasts. He took turns in kissing, sucking and gently teasing with his teeth both until her moans were getting stronger. Olivia could feel herself getting worked up again, so she slipped her hand between them, where she reached his member and wrapped her fingers firmly around him. Elliot bit her left breast much stronger than he planned at the movement, which made Olivia hiss loudly and Elliot let out a muffled groan.

"Ow," she said. Elliot released her breast from his mouth. He pushed himself up on his elbows and created space between them as he moved back upwards so he could look at her face.

"You ought to give me a warning before grabbing me," Elliot grunted.

"Noted. I just didn't know you bite, when I don't," Olivia deadpanned. She moved her free hand to her breast and gently rubbed the spot, where Elliot's teeth had landed.

"Man has to protect his manhood," Elliot said.

Olivia started moving her fingers up and down along his length, occasionally wondering downwards and cupping his balls in her hand.

"You've been sleeping with me for two years and you still need to protect it from me?" she asked, her fingers working his member, but barely coming to contact with his sensitive tip. She was well aware how that teasing made him feel, considering he'd been hard for some time and in need for a release.

Elliot breathed out heavily, which was caused by Olivia's fingers working around him. "It's just a biological reaction," Elliot tried, he did his best to think clear, but that was becoming harder by the second.

"So I have to protect my boobs every time I wanna take your penis in my hand?" she continued interrogating.

"Only if your boob is in my mouth," he said.

"Oh, okay then," she replied.

"What does that mean?" he demanded.

Olivia just shook her head to brush it off. She moved her left hand downwards and used it to play with his balls, while she formed a ring with her thumb and forefinger around his member, but kept the actual touch light and mainly imaginary.

"I'm sorry I bit you, it was an accident," he pleaded.

Olivia's lips curled into half-smile, but she stayed silent and continued working him.

"Liv, please," he said. His fully erect member aching for a touch much more satisfying than her painfully bare contact was.

"Babe, I know it was wrong, but know that you are in control. I might be on top of you and in a power position, but right now you have it all. I'm totally powerless," Elliot pleaded again.

"Fine," she replied and in a sudden movement removed her hands from his member altogether.

Elliot grunted loudly and breathed out heavily. He kissed her lips forcefully and got in return equal force. He buckled his hips and hit her center with his member, which made both of them groan. Elliot started moving his right hand downwards to check if she's ready, but she caught his hand and guided it upwards to her breast which he bit before.

Elliot massaged it gently, but Olivia was the one to break the kiss. She moved her hand down and took his member in her hand. This time Elliot didn't bite or even squeeze her breast – he had anticipated it.

Olivia smirked as he guided his head to her entrance.

"You're ready?" he asked just in case.

"Yeah," she said and nodded. To add fumes to the fire, she bit her lower lip and batted her eyelashes. Elliot didn't need to hear more, so he simply pushed himself inside her in slow movement. He kept his eyes on her face as he loved to watch her throw head back and close her eyes while she moaned. And she did moan for him.

She wrapped her hands around his back and kept them firmly on his lower back while he stretched her.

"You're so tight," he said.

"Or you're just a bit too big," she complimented the size of his member.

Elliot rocked his hips, but Olivia's palms stayed firmly on his back, silently asking him to give her time to adjust.

The moment Olivia relaxed and moved her hands around his neck, Elliot pulled out and then slammed back into her forcefully. She gasped and gripped tighter onto his neck while she wrapped her legs around his midsection and pressed her heels into his back.

Elliot continued thrusting slowly, but making sure he reached the maximum depth. Olivia urged every thrust on with pressing her heels tighter into him and moving her hips along with his rhythm. "Oh, just like that," she moaned.

He smirked and slowly picked up the pace, until he reached his usual speed of thrusting fast inside her, with Olivia making sounds of pleasure with each deep penetration. He could tell how much she was enjoying her by the sounds she made and the way her hips met his every thrust. He held his weight up with one of his elbow, while his free hand was in her hair and his lips were on hers.

Elliot could feel his own climax getting closer as well as Olivia nearing hers. He moved his hand from her hear to her clit and massaged it.

"Oh, God," she said, into the kiss.

Elliot moved his lips and trailed open mouthed kisses over her cheeks, jaw and lips, while he still thrusted his hips speedily.

"Olivia," Elliot moaned as he was ready to explode.

"With you," she replied.

With that Elliot continued kissing her already swollen lips and thrusted erratically inside her, until his vision went white and something in his lower abdomen exploded. He stopped rubbing her clit, but her moans and loud calling of his name was enough to know that she reached the peak just seconds after he did.

Elliot collapsed on top of Olivia, he buried his head on her shoulder and tried to catch his breath, same as Olivia. He could feel her chest moving up and down rapidly underneath his the same was he breathed fast, but doing his best to come down from this high.

Olivia wrapped her fingers around his neck so she could feel his pulse point. She found the pulse with ease as the fast pulsations were strong against her fingers.

"Your heart is racing, detective," she said.

"Yeah, it usually does, when you're around," he was cheesy.

Elliot turned his head and kissed her neck, feeling her own racing pulsations as the blood circulated and oxygen was delivered to her brain. He didn't suck her skin, he barely even kissed it as he was tired, so he simply kept his lips against her neck.

"That was amazing, El," she commented.

"I have to agree with that. I'm positive, I can't even move right now," he added.

"There's nowhere you need to go right now," she said, Olivia wrapped her hand around him. "And I wouldn't let you move anyway."

"Babe, your strength is no match for mine. Beside you always keep complaining that I'm crushing you," Elliot argued, but he didn't make a simple attempt to roll away or to move in any direction.

"But I've also said that I love your weight on me," she said casually.

"Mmm," Elliot said and nuzzled her neck with his nose. "In that case I won't be moving."

"You'd better," she threatened.

The silence filled the room, as the detectives enjoyed the silence with their eyes closed and satisfaction deep in their bones. It didn't take long for them to reach near-sleep state.

"We should turn the lights off," Olivia mumbled.

Elliot nodded by making a sound, but didn't move.

Olivia moved herself and managed to slip out from beneath him, his no longer erect penis losing contact with her in the process.

Elliot protested loudly at her movements and stretched out his hand in an attempt to stop her, but failed miserably.

Olivia turned off the lights in the living room, hallway and in the bedroom, leaving them in complete darkness. She tiptoed back to bed and landed on his side, because he was still diagonally over the bed, mainly on her side. She pulled the blanket over herself and partially over him, pressed her head into soft pillow and closed her eyes once more.

"Good night," she whispered.

"Night," Elliot whispered back.

Olivia turned onto her stomach with her head turned away from Elliot and one of her legs slightly bent, when she felt Elliot make the first move. He rolled to the middle of the bed, covered himself with the blanket and angled himself towards Olivia. He caught her, placed his head on her back and wrapped his arm around her midsection, resting his palm between her abdomen and the bed.

Olivia leaned slightly into him and made herself comfortable in his arms. "And that's how every good night should end," she said.

"Fully satisfied and the most beautiful woman in my arms – completely agree," Elliot responded.

Olivia smiled into the pillow and let the bliss of the moment lull her to sleep with none of her guards up and the man she loved holding onto her and offering her more safety than she thought was needed and wanted.

***SVU***

Morning came with Olivia waking up alone in her bed. She instantly missed the warmth of Elliot she fell asleep to the night before, but it was no longer there. She reached her hand to the other side of bed, where she usually slept, but she met with cold sheets – he must have gotten up some time ago.

She rolled to her side and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table, it was past 9 am, no wonder he was gone. Olivia yawned, stretched and blinked her eyes open, so she could focus and start her day. Truth was, that she was exhausted, even though she got a good night sleep, much longer than she usually did too.

Olivia threw the blanket away and stood from the bed. She grabbed Elliot's t-shirt and pulled it on along with some sweatpants she found from the chair in the bedroom. She brushed her teeth and gazed at her tired face from the mirror, but stopped it as she realized she didn't want to focus on her tired and imperfect face. Instead she took a quick refreshing shower, which successfully washed off the tiredness and Elliot's lingering scent on her.

She got to the kitchen, where she saw a note on the table. She unwrapped the paper and smiled at the words Elliot wrote.

Went to work, something broke on the case. You looked like an angel in your sleep, so I let you sleep it. I'll cover Cragen, go get your closure. See you tonight.
I love you.
El.

She folded the paper back and put it on the table. She started coffee and opened fridge, where she found sandwich with a note Breakfast on it. She smiled again at Elliot's ability to surprise her every now and then with small gestures.

Olivia ate, enjoyed the coffee with newspaper that Elliot had brought in before leaving. Then she took out her notebook, where she had written down Jane Willet's address – she was victim of one rapes Joe Marsden might be responsible for. She had every intention to go see that woman and get some real answers.

And that she did. Even though she was rather rudely sent away by Jane Willet, the elderly woman confirmed just one thing Olivia wanted to know – Joe Marsden really did rape 3 women and fathered her in the process. With heavy heart she got back into her squad car and headed towards the precinct – she had postponed seeing Cragen and apologize for her actions for long enough.

In a strange way Olivia felt ease for knowing what really happened to her mother and who did it, but at the same time there was some heavy weight on her shoulders, guilt for doubting Serena in the first place and nagging feeling that Simon might be like his father – it felt like proving Joe Hollister's guilt was also proof for Simon's.

At last she made it to 16th precinct, where Manhattan SVU was located and parked her squad car in its usual spot. She walked through the familiar halls, entered the elevator and got to comfortable floor, where she had spent most of her NYPD career.

Elliot, Munch and Fin were all sitting behind their desks. Munch had his nose on the screen while Fin was writing a report and Elliot flipped through case files.

"Good to see someone working here," she said and announced her presence.

"Look, who decided to show up for work. I was close to starting and leading your rescue mission," Munch commented and looked at Olivia over his darkened glasses.

"He's joking," Fin clarified. "But Cragen was rather unhappy with your absence," he added.

Olivia nodded. "So I've heard," she said under her breath.

Elliot lifted his head and smiled at her.

"He's in his office, but he's not in a bad mood," he said simply.

Olivia lifted her eyebrows and sat on the edge of his table. She let out a heavy breath and unbuttoned her coat.

"How was your morning?" Elliot asked quietly.

"Good," she said and looked over to the other detectives, who were all focused on their screens or case files in front of them, giving no attention to Olivia and Elliot.

"Did you see her?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, I just came from there," she said.

"And?" he prompted.

"Yeah," Olivia nodded. She reached and took Elliot's hand in hers. "Joe Hollister raped those women. My mother was telling the truth and I really was fathered by a rapist, which also gives Simon good chances of being one too."

"You had to know for sure. You can deal with Simon later or you can let FBI take care of him. He's not your responsibility. We all make our bed and have to sleep in it later. You made yours and he did his," Elliot said quietly.

Olivia nodded. "I know," she replied.

Elliot squeezed her hand.

"I have to talk with Cragen," she decided.

Elliot nodded and let go of his hand.

Olivia got up from the desk and took her time walking to Cragen's office. The office door was wide open so he might already suspect her presence in the precinct.

"I hope they're not making you do all that paperwork because of Michael Thatcher," Olivia said gently upon entering, referring to the suspect she beat.

"He's done. Without a confession" Cragen said and stopped writing, but he didn't lift his head. "The victims ID'd him and we have DNA," he clarified.

Olivia was relieved to know that her actions didn't let rapist back on the streets. She walked towards the window in Cragen's office, "Captain what happened the other night," she started and leaned on the windowsill.

Olivia looked for words and Cragen finally lifted his eyes to look at his detective, who was a completely different version of the one, he last saw, but his eyes didn't stay on her for long as he turned his look back on his desk.

"What I did and what I said," Olivia continued, she thought of her actions and suddenly she wanted to fall to the ground. "That's not me," she said finally.

Cragen considered her words for seemingly long time, when it was only a few seconds. He dropped his pen and leaned back on his chair, his full attention on Olivia. "I know," he said softly and looked at Olivia with some worry. "Porter called, he told me what happened at the bookstore. He's not gonna charge you, 'cause you kept your word. He also took time to let me know that you have been cooperative and helpful, suggesting I take no action against you either," he summarized a long phone call he had the day before, when Dean Porter looped Cragen in on the situation and made several points about Olivia's effectiveness and competence as a detective, as well as Olivia's determination that led to finding a missing girl in Oregon.

Cragen studied her face, but she merely nodded at the information and kept on looking at him with blank expression. He partially wanted to yell at her for breaking the law and being so stupid, but he also wanted to tell her that everything was okay and she didn't do anything wrong. It didn't feel right to give her a lecture as Cragen was confident, that Olivia had been beating herself up for her actions and he didn't need to make her feel worse, but he couldn't tell her it's okay either, so he chose to ignore the subject.

"You need a rest," he finally said after determining the right course of action and noticing the tiredness on her face. "You've got plenty of time. Take it," he added.

Olivia nodded – it was probably the best to take some time off and deal with her personal issues. "How long?" she asked.

"You'll know when you're ready to come back," Cragen said simply, though he doubted Olivia would stay away for over a week.

"Thank you," Olivia said and was ready to exit the office. She was already on the doorway, but then turned back.

"One more thing – you can close three cold cases," Olivia said.

"What?" Cragen asked and looked back up from his papers.

"Joe Hollister raped my mother and two other women who worked at the dining halls. I did some digging and I got a confirmation this morning from one of the victims, the only one still living in the area. My mother's case is no longer cold," she said casually.

Cragen nodded – he might deal with the cases later, but it also might come with too many questions about how the cases got solved and he suspected Olivia didn't use legal methods to find her brother and her father.

"We'll handle that after your time off," Cragen concluded.

Olivia accepted that and left his office.

Elliot turned momentarily around in his chair at the sound of her approaching footsteps, but waited for her to come to him. She did. Olivia sat on the edge of his desk and tilted herself towards him.

"So?" he asked.

"I'm on leave," she replied.

"How long?"

"Until I'm ready to come back," she quoted Cragen.

Elliot nodded. He glanced over his case files on the desk and open report on his computer screen, then closed the case file in front of him.

"I can take a break right about now. I'll take you home, assuming you'll be going home," he decided.

"Yeah, I'll be going home," she said.

"You know what, after those few days we need to relax. I'm gonna cook you nice dinner and we can watch some cheesy romantic movie and forget everything," Elliot suggested.

"I'm all for it," she replied with a smile.

Elliot nodded. He closed the report on his desktop and placed the case files in a neat pile on the edge of his desk, right beside Olivia. She was sure his actions had another meaning as well, when his hand passed her back and lingered there longer than it took to place the folders.

"I'm gonna take a break," Elliot announced, when he stood up.

"Slacker," Munch commented without looking up.

"You'd have more motivation to get out of here too, if you had a wife at home," Fin said to his partner.

"I'm not his wife and we're not living together or are you talking about someone else?" Olivia interrupted.

"See? Elliot's not going home to his wife, he's just slacking," Munch made his argument.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm slacking. But you two keep up the good work," Elliot said to end the discussion.

He stuffed all necessary to his pockets and put on his black worn leather jacket.

"Our own couple, who avoid work at all cost. I'm so proud of you. It's the right way to fight against government – let them pay you, but do as little work as possible. I like your attitude," Munch continued.

"Don't mind my partner, he's a bit crazy," Fin quipped.

"A bit?" Olivia asked with a raised eyebrow.

Elliot grabbed Olivia's hand and pulled her off from his table. "Come on, let's get out before the overworked detectives can go full crazy on us," he said to Olivia.

"Bye," Olivia said and waved with her hand.

Both Munch and Fin said their goodbyes in return.

Olivia and Elliot left the precinct as so many times before, got into Elliot's car and he drove towards her apartment.

"If you want to cook, then we have to do grocery shopping," Olivia said.

Elliot nodded. "I'll take care of it. You don't have to worry about anything," he said casually.

"Okay," Olivia replied.

They reached her apartment building, where Elliot stopped the car.

"Gonna walk me upstairs too?" Olivia asked with alluring smile.

Elliot nodded.

They got out of the car and crossed the street, when Elliot saw a dark gray car pulling up by the next building. He could've sworn he saw the same car in front of the precinct before. Still he chose to ignore it, but he pulled Olivia just a bit closer to him and grabbed her hand.

"Maybe it would be better if I'd cooked for you seeing as I have all this free time?" Olivia asked.

"No, not when my plan is to treat my woman," he replied.

"What am I supposed to do then until you get home?" she asked.

"I don't know, whatever you usually do on your days off or whatever you used to do," he suggested.

"So, I should go to a bar and pick up a guy to have sex with?" she teased him.

Elliot stopped in the middle of the stairs. "No, no, no. Those days are over," he said firmly.

"Yeah, I'm not that desperate right now," she agreed.

Elliot kissed her right there in the middle of the staircase, then moved his lips to her ear, "If you want sex, then all you have to do is ask," he whispered.

"Or take off my clothes in front of you," she added.

"That works too," he agreed.

Olivia started climbing just before Elliot, so he followed her. He couldn't help but notice how good she looked from the backside and he started to realize more and more why men let women walk in front of them and open doors for them.

"Liv, have I told you lately how good you look?" he asked, when they reached her floor and entered the hallway.

"Today you haven't," she replied.

"You look amazing," he said easily.

"Thank you. As do you," she returned the compliment.

Olivia grabbed her key from her pocket and placed it in the lock. She suddenly heard noise and turned her head towards the other side of the hallway, but it was empty. She noticed Elliot mimicking her actions.

She brushed it off and unlocked her door, but she didn't get to open it, because Elliot roughly grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him as he drew his weapon.

"Whoa!" the woman coming from the shadows said and pulled up her hands when Elliot's gun was a few meters away aiming at her.

"Trying to get yourself shot, Captain?" Olivia asked.

Elliot looked at Olivia curiously, his gun still aimed at the redhaired woman. Olivia covered his hand with hers and lowered his weapon until he holstered it back on his hip. "It's Captain Millfield, she's handling Simon's case," Olivia explained.

"It's Julia," Millfield said to Olivia.

"Detective Stabler, I'm Olivia's partner," Elliot said and extended his hand to finish the introductions.

Millfield took it, shook it and introduced herself once more, then turned to Olivia.

"We need to talk," she said.

Olivia nodded, unlocked the door and let both Elliot and Julia inside her apartment.

"What do you want?" Olivia asked bluntly.

"Your help," Julia replied. "Porter's cut me out of the loop. He won't return my phone calls."

"He's out of town," Olivia replied.

"When's he coming back?" Julia asked.

"I don't know," Olivia replied.

"Hopefully never," Elliot said under his breath, but Olivia still heard him. Her lips formed a half-smile for a minute, then her disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Are we done?" Olivia asked roughly.

Julia took a deep breath and gave a look to Elliot. He didn't seem to be affected and stood as firmly as ever on Olivia's side.

"Look, I know I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. I get it. I'm single too. You meet a guy, you think he's the one. The other shoe drops, but you still have feelings," Julia continued, she was much calmer as she had been before.

"Yeah, Liv. Is there something you wanna talk about?" Elliot teased, his attempt to lighten the mood.

Olivia gave him a look which surely would have killed him in an instant, if looks could kill. Julia stared at Elliot too with curiosity and growing suspicion.

"So, the SVU detectives make a habit of forming relationships with rapists'?" Julia asked, her anger directed towards Elliot.

Elliot took a step forward, but Olivia held her hand in front of him, so he stopped.

"You don't get it. I don't have romantic feelings for Simon Marsden," she said firmly, then turned her eyes towards Elliot, "I'm in a happy relationship."

"You should get your facts straight, neither of us is romantically involved with Marsden" Elliot added and looked at Olivia with affection and his hand slowly resting on the small of her back out of Julia's sight. "Marsden's her brother," Elliot said to Julia.

Julia wore an unreadable expression which was a mixture of surprise and suspicion. "Your brother?" she asked to make sure she heard right.

"Yeah, long story, but he is," Olivia confirmed.

"So that's why you've been protecting him," Julia said knowingly, finally understanding the situation and at the same time realizing how wrong she had been about Olivia.

"I know he tried to rape your sister, when they were in high school. I just…," Olivia started. She felt Elliot's hand moving circles on her back – comforting and supporting her as always. "I just didn't want to believe it," she finished.

"He's family. I understand," Julia replied.

"No," Olivia said firmly and moved away from Elliot. She stood by her couch, where Julia followed her, leaving Elliot alone by the kitchen side. "It's my fault he raped Donna Leonte. I screwed up your investigation, and I don't want him to attack another woman. I'll call Porter for you," she said seriously.

"And do whatever else you need me to do to help," she added.

"A statement from you could go a long way towards a conviction. Mind coming to my office?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, I can do that," Olivia agreed.

Elliot had had it, he stepped forward between them. "Hold on ladies," he said. "Mind if I borrow Olivia for a second?" he asked from Julia.

Julia nodded while gazing curiously at the duo. Elliot placed his hand on her lower back and guided her to the bedroom and closed the door after them.

"What are you doing, Liv?" he asked quietly.

"Making it right," she replied.

"You are suddenly so sure, that Marsden is guilty?" he questioned.

"All the evidence is there. I just didn't want to see it before," Olivia explained and tried to get past him to the living room, but Elliot stood firmly beside the door.

"You got confirmation that your father was indeed a rapist, and now you're so sure your brother is as well?" Elliot asked, but didn't expect a reply, so he continued. "The way Millfield is acting is weird, you were right, when you said that she had been focusing on Simon and seems like she is obsessed."

"Now you're doubting?" Olivia asked.

"I don't know. Something is off here, I just don't know what," Elliot said.

"I'm gonna figure it out. Look, I'm just gonna go give a statement and maybe I'll learn something about the case," Olivia said confidently, then hesitated suddenly. "I don't know. I just need to do this, okay?"

Elliot nodded. "Yeah, do what you need to," he said, though it was obvious he felt defeated.

"Thank you," she said.

Olivia made one more move towards the door, but Elliot blocked her again. She looked at him curiously. "One more thing," he said and leaned down so he could kiss her quickly.

"Now we're good to go," he said after pulling away.

Olivia opened the door and joined Julia, who was sitting on the couch, Elliot behind her. Julia stood, when she saw Olivia and Elliot back in the living room.

"Ready?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, let's do this," Olivia said.

All three of them exited the apartment and got back on the street. Once they got out, Elliot fished his pockets and took the keys to their squad car, then held them in front of Olivia.

"I'm gonna walk back, take the squad," he said.

"You sure?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, I'll be stuck doing paperwork for Casey for the remaining shift. I don't need it," he explained.

"Okay," Olivia accepted it.

"Call me," Elliot said.

Olivia nodded and departed from Elliot. Julia got into her car and drove off with Olivia following her, and Elliot looked after the cars, while he walked back to the station wondering when Olivia will get back and how foul her mood was going to be.

***SVU***

It was close to midnight, when Elliot woke from his slight slumber on the couch and Olivia arrived at her apartment. The TV was still on, but the sound was barely audible and reruns of old series filled the screen, which was the only source of lighting in the living room.

"Dean, it's me again, call me as soon as you get it, it's about Simon. Enjoy the warmth," Olivia said and hung up her phone – Dean still hadn't returned any of her messages.

She turned on the hallway light as she took off her coat, boots and removed badge and gun from her belt.

"It's bright," Elliot complained and held his hand over his eyes, when the bright light hit his eyes.

"Sorry," Olivia mumbled quickly and turned the light off again.

She closed the distance between them, placed her elbows on the armrest and leaned over him. Olivia kissed his forehead and then got back up straight.

"Why are you sleeping on the couch?" Olivia asked.

"I was waiting for you, but apparently I fell asleep," Elliot replied.

Olivia chuckled and ran her fingers in his hair. "You should've gone to bed or called me, so I could've told you that I was gonna be late," she said.

"Yeah, I will the next time," Elliot replied and sat up on the couch.

He turned on the floor lamp by the couch and squinted his eyes at the bright light while Olivia turned off the TV and took a slice of now cold pizza on the table.

"How did it go?" Elliot asked.

Olivia shook her head and munched a mouthful of pizza.

"That bad?" Elliot asked.

Olivia shook her head again, she swallowed and emptied her mouth. "Can we not talk about it?" she asked and took another bite of the slice in her hand.

"Sure," Elliot said.

"You wanna finish my pizza and then go to bed?" he asked.

Olivia nodded with her mouth full.

Elliot smiled. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth, see you in bed," he announced and stood.

Olivia nodded again. Elliot kissed her temple as he passed, Olivia moaned at the contact, but continued eating the pizza.

She joined him 5 minutes later, but disappeared once again to the bathroom. After what seemed like an eternity she returned the bedroom with just towel around herself as she had taken a shower.

"You could've told me about your plans and I might have joined you?" Elliot commented.

"I wanted a quick shower and you would make it much longer, though enjoyable," Olivia replied.

"Fine, but you owe me one," Elliot decided.

"Sure," Olivia replied.

She took her body lotion and sat on the edge of the bed, so she could get the lotion on her legs.

Elliot pulled himself up on his elbows and looked at her intensely.

"What?" Olivia asked once she felt his eyes on her.

"You don't know how much this is turning me on," he said honestly.

"Don't look then," Olivia deadpanned.

Elliot made a face and threw the covers from himself, then climbed to Olivia and sat on her side.

"Let me," he asked nicely.

Olivia handed him the bottle which he willingly accepted. He spread lotion over his hands and rubbed them together, then used his teeth to get her to lower the towel to which she responded by removing it completely.

"Lie down," Elliot ordered.

Olivia followed his orders and got down on her stomach. She pulled her hair to the pillow away from her bare back and buried her face on the pillow.

Elliot sat on her lower back with her legs on either side of her and started applying the lotion to her upper back, giving her a massage in the process. He stopped to get more lotion and moved downwards over her curves and legs until her skin was equally moisturized. Olivia urged him on with occasional moans, but he didn't think she was aware of making them.

Finally done with her hands, legs and back, he sat down beside beside her. "Turn around," he said.

Olivia rolled herself to her back and watched as Elliot sat on his lower abdomen, got the lotion and started rubbing it on her skin, starting with her neck.

"Why haven't you done this before?" she asked.

Elliot reached downwards and rubbed her breasts in his hands, Olivia moaned at the movements.

"I was wondering the same thing," he said mischievously.

To her surprise he passed her breasts quickly and continued with her abdomen. As he moved along, Olivia could feel his semi-hard member through his boxers.

"Or is this just your idea of foreplay?" she asked.

"Maybe," Elliot replied.

"You're clever, I'll give you that," Olivia said.

Elliot smirked and continued rubbing her thighs.

"Is it working?" he asked when he finished applying lotion to her skin.

"Maybe," she smirked.

Elliot nuzzled her neck and breathed her in. "You smell good," he said.

"Thanks," she replied.

Elliot covered her lips with his and gave her a lazy kiss.

"So, are you up for some late night training?" Eliot asked seductively while kissing her cheeks and jawbone.

"Oh, I can feel that you are up," Olivia commented.

Elliot continued moving down her body, using his lips and hands to slowly coax her into the mood. "I know how ready I am, but the question is, are you interested in having your mind blown?" he asked.

"You're seriously asking that after rubbing my body with great care and turning me on for the past 10 minutes?" she asked.

"Well, I'm obligated to get your permission, you know," Elliot explained, his subconscious still focused on the current case.

"Just shut up and fuck me," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," Elliot replied and did exactly what he was told.

***SVU***

The next day Elliot sat behind his desk as usual, occasionally glancing over his computer to look at his partner, but then realizing that she wasn't there. When Elliot left, Olivia was at her apartment flipping through different channels to find something to watch and he let her be.

It was close to noon, when O'Halloran wandered into the squad room and briefed Cragen on his latest case, something Elliot didn't care much for, but he stopped at Elliot's desk before leaving.

"Hey, Elliot," O'Halloran said.

"O'Halloran, how's it going?" Elliot greeted his friend and dropped the pen from his hand.

"Good, you know the usual. Except of course the part, when your partner pulled me away from my date to ask questions about some Jersey case," O'Halloran said.

"What?" Elliot asked with his eyes wide.

"Olivia called ma last night. You didn't know?" O'Halloran asked with surprise.

Elliot shook his head. "No, what did she want?"

"She had Jersey file with some hair, supposedly found in the vic's underwear, asked me if it was legit," O'Halloran explained.

"Was it legit?" Elliot asked.

"How many hair have you found from vic's underwear?"

"Close to none," Elliot replied – he had his answer.

"Specially since it was telogen hair, you know the ones that fall out on their own while brushing or taking a shower. Seemed to me like it was planted there," O'Halloran said to make sure there was no doubt.

"Did you happen to see the name of the vic or anything?" Elliot asked.

"No, she just had some pictures with her," O'Halloran replied. "You know to think about it, it was kind of odd, she usually doesn't call me up at midnight for some off the books case, specially without your knowledge."

"Yeah, well this is a rather unusual situation," Elliot said and started closing his files. "Thanks, Ryan for telling me," he thanked his friend.

"Sure, Elliot. Hope I didn't cause any trouble," O'Halloran replied.

Elliot shook his head. "No worries. I just have to go, nice seeing you," he said as he grabbed his jacket and almost ran out of the precinct.

"If anyone asks, I'm out sick," he shouted to his co-workers on his way out, but he didn't stick around long enough to hear if Munch had some smart comment about it. He took out his phone and dialed Olivia, who didn't pick up her phone, so he decided to call another number instead.

With a heavy heart, he pressed dial on his phone and waited.

"Porter."

"Hey, it's detective Stabler. I was wondering how your search was going," Elliot asked as he reached his squad car and got in.

"No luck, why?" Dean asked.

"Liv might do something stupid regarding your case, but I also believe she might be onto something," Elliot said honestly.

"What? Where is she?" Dean asked.

"At Riverpark PD station," Elliot replied.

"I'm on my way," Dean said and ended the call.

Elliot flipped his phone shut and drove off. He tried calling Olivia several times, but it went straight to voicemail. So soon enough he reached the Riverpark PD building, where he saw Dean already waiting by some squad cars. Elliot parked his car beside obvious FBI vehicle and got out, then joined Dean.

"What's going on?" Dean demanded.

"I'm not sure, but I think you might be wrong about Marsden," Elliot said.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Liv spent hours here last night talking with captain Millfield and after that she showed some photos to our forensic technician and comes out the DNA evidence is really weak on this case. I think she's gonna confront captain Millfield about it and perhaps jeopardize her badge in the process," Elliot explained.

"Millfield's on leave, I called her office in the morning," Dean replied.

"Then we need to find her," Elliot decided.

"No need," Dean said calmly and pointed towards the building. They walked toward the entrance, when Dean stopped by some squad cars.

"What?" Elliot asked.

Dean pointed his head to the building. "I thought about heading in and then I saw Olivia talking to the officer in the front desk and decided to wait for you instead," he explained.

"Got it. So now we can just wait until she comes out," Elliot said.

"Yeah," Dean agreed.

Elliot used the time to take his badge from his belt and put it around his neck over his leather jacket.

"You really think Marsden is innocent?" Dean asked.

Before Elliot could reply, the door opened and Olivia walked out. She seemed deep in her thoughts, when she looked up and saw Elliot and Dean waiting for her. She slowed her step and walked to the guys.

"How'd you find me?" she asked.

"O'Halloran told me about your midnight rendezvous," Elliot said. "Didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out the rest."

"We've gotta find Millfield," Olivia said firmly and changed the subject, apparently she had misjudged her partner. "She framed Simon for the rapes, and I can prove it," she explained to her partner, then turned to the FBI agent, who had been ignoring her calls the night before. "Do you have him in custody?" Olivia asked.

"Wasted trip. For all we know, he's never been to Miami," Dean replied.

"Well, we have to find him before Millfield does," Olivia demanded. "The sister overdosed, and she's gonna blame Simon," she elaborated.

"How do you know all this?" Dean asked.

"It's a long story," Olivia replied quickly, "Are you sure that they never lived in Florida? The mother was very specific."

"She also has Alzheimer's. She didn't know her own nurse," Dean tried to reason, but it was a failed attempt from the start.

"She knew me. I'm part of her past. Why would she make up some house on Route 94 in Florida?" Olivia continued.

"Route 94 to Florida?" Elliot asked.

Both Dean and Olivia turned to him.

"It's upstate. There was a police camp that my father took me to every summer. I remember that sign, Route 94 to Florida. It's in the Catskills," Elliot continued, suddenly having visions of the summer camp he grew up hating in his mind.

"Is it near Moorepark?" Olivia asked, hopeful once again.

"Yeah," Elliot replied.

In silent agreement all of them turned around and headed back towards their parked cars.

"That's where Simon and Millfield went to High School. She figured it out. Simon's father left him the house in the will," Olivia explained as they reached the cars.

"I'll get operations working on an address," Dean said and opened his car door.

Both Elliot and Olivia reached their familiar squad car. "Tell them it's under the name Hollister," Olivia said to Dean before getting in the car.

Both cars drove off with blinking police lights working, Dean took the lead and Elliot followed him.

"You should have told me," Elliot said.

"It's personal, I told you before. I didn't want to pull you into this mess," Olivia replied.

"Don't give me that. You should know better by now," Elliot grunted.

"Yeah I do, but I nearly got charged because of this. I didn't want to pull you into this," Olivia tried again.

"I already am in this, been since the day I first kissed you. Now, we're gonna have a serious conversation about this and everything tonight," Elliot said seriously. "And it's not up for a debate," he added.

"Fine," Olivia gave up.

Olivia's phone rang, it was Dean, who let her know the address, which luckily wasn't that far from their location.

As they continued driving, they passed the Route 94 to Florida sign, which Elliot remembered and took a turn towards it. Not long after Dean blinked his lights and stopped in front of a house. Elliot pulled up beside him.

They got out and headed towards the house with Elliot up front, Olivia following her and Dean being last.

"It's Simon's car," Olivia said as she recognized the dark blue Chevrolet with New Jersey plates.

"No sign of Millfield," Dean added.

"Must have just gotten here. It's still warm," Elliot said as he touched the hood of the car.

They headed towards the house with determination until a shot fired out. Elliot instinctively reached his hand behind him and found Olivia, he stood protectively in front of her, while both Olivia froze for a second, but Dean reached for his gun. A moment later both Olivia and Elliot had their guns drawn and ready to move.

"Come with me," Dean said to Olivia, "Take the back," he instructed Elliot.

Elliot looked after the pair, but did as he was told and headed to the back of the building. He had just reached the back door, when his phone rang and Olivia's name appeared on his screen. "Liv… I'm on," Elliot whispered.

"Julia, how much blood have you lost?" Elliot heard Olivia ask and her voice get further as she placed her phone on the floor.

Elliot instantly backed from the door and got back to the front of the building, where state troopers were just arriving. He still had his gun in his one hand, aimed loosely towards the house and his other hand holding up his badge for the locals to see.

The troopers took positions upon arrival with hiding behind the cars and their guns pointed at the house.

"My partner's inside with a taker. I got them on an open line," Elliot said to the local chief. They positioned themselves behind the car.

"How many hostages?" the chief asked.

"One, cop from Jersey. She's been shot," Elliot replied.

"We gotta go in," the trooper decided.

"No, the guy's unstable," Elliot said quickly, he didn't want Simon to get scared and start shooting blank with Olivia and Dean in the line of fire.

"Look, we try talking him out, he could kill the hostage and my partner," Elliot reasoned.

"Hostage negotiator will be here in ten. It's his call," the local chief decided.

Elliot kept his eyes focused on the house, but he holstered his gun and listened to Olivia try to talk down Simon and ask Julia questions. He could hear her guilt over the situation from the way she spoke and tried to take the blame for what happened.

His mind really went into a spin, when Olivia offered to trade places with Millfield. Elliot was ready to burst in there and shoot Simon if that meant not putting Olivia in danger, to his great luck Simon refused and by the sound of Julia's voice made the threat more imminent to the Captain. The negotiator chose that moment to make his appearance.

"Tom Nickerson, state police, I'm the negotiator," a tall muscular black man in uniform introduced himself and offered Elliot his hand.

"Elliot Stabler, my partner's inside," Elliot said and shook hands with the other man.

"Your partner's way off script," Tom said.

"The hostage taker is her brother," Elliot explained.

Tom seemed to be uneasy with the fact and the way Olivia handled the negotiations.

"Patch me through to the landline in the house," Tom announced and the state trooper handed him phone. They could hear over Olivia and Simon the landline ringing inside, but Simon refused to answer it, finally he did after both Olivia and Julia encouraged him.

"I'm not going to jail," was all Simon said to the negotiator and hang up.

After that a loud shot was heard from inside the building which made everybody take cover.

"Mount up! We're going in!" Tom shouted, but Elliot's attention was pulled another voice shouting – Dean.

"Stand down! He shot the phone!" Dean shouted.

Elliot took the phone and held it up for others to hear. "Hold on, listen!" Elliot shouted.

"He shot the phone! He shot the phone," Dean kept repeating from inside. "Nobody's hit, everybody's okay," he continued.

"Who's that out there?" Simon yelled.

"Stand down," Dean commanded.

Simon demanded to know what was talking again.

"FBI," Dean said.

"Get out! Get out or I shoot her!" Simon shouted.

It was time for Dean to get involved in the negotiations. He demanded that Simon listened to Olivia, but it all ended with Simon forcing Dean out and Olivia encouraging it after Simon threatened to shoot Julia once again. So he got out and Olivia was left alone.

Dean had barely made it out, when they heard Olivia entering the room unharmed and the troopers were ready to go in.

"5 minutes, give me five minutes," Elliot demanded. To his luck the negotiator granted his wish. He almost ran to the house with Dean on his heels.

"What are you doing?" Elliot asked in whisper.

"Giving you the back-up. And when the time comes I'm more willing to shoot him that you are," Dean reasoned.

Elliot nodded. "You stay quiet," Elliot said.

Dean agreed with the terms and the two men stormed inside to aid Olivia. They could hear Julia and Simon arguing about what happened on the prom night as they neared. Dean stayed behind the wall, while Elliot stood in the doorway with his gun pointed at Simon.

"Simon, drop your gun," he demanded.

"Elliot," Olivia said and turned around in surprise.

"Don't make me shoot her," Simon begged.

"Drop your weapon," Elliot demanded again and moved his finger to the trigger.

"Elliot, don't," Olivia asked him not to shoot, her voice calm, but sure. "Please," she added in whisper.

Once Olivia was sure Elliot wasn't going to shoot anyone, she focused on Simon and continued asking about the prom night, which seemed to be the start of this saga.

Elliot tried to listen to her, but he didn't hear much of the conversation, because he still had his gun pointed at Simon and he tried his best to read him and pull the trigger, when necessary.

The story unfolded with Olivia finally getting the final piece of puzzle with Carrie being molested as a kid, which triggered her reaction with Simon on the prom night and led to drug use and eventual overdose. Julia's condition got worse and Olivia got down on the floor beside her, she got all the answers she needed to clear Simon.

Elliot felt braver and got fully into the room, his aim firm.

Finally Olivia managed to get the gun from Simon and she gave it to Elliot, who ordered the medics inside. Dean was the first to enter, he holstered his weapon and grabbed a hold of Simon's arm when Elliot pushed Simon towards him and shoved Millfield's gun in Dean's open hand. Dean secured the weapon and handed it to the locals.

Elliot on the other hand, pulled Olivia away from Julia into his embrace. Olivia came willingly and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding when she wrapped her hands around her boyfriend. He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes, finally at ease.

"I was so scared," he admitted and held his arms tightly around her.

"Simon wouldn't shoot me, I was never in danger," Olivia said.

"Oh, yes, you were. Don't ever do that again. You don't get to put yourself in the line of fire, when you feel like it. Didn't you say it to me some time ago?" he said firmly.

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed.

"Okay, let's get out of here," Elliot said and released her. He took her hand and led her out of the Hollister's house into the fresh air, the medics came out soon after with Millfield. One of the medics spoke to the negotiator Tom, who then turned to the detectives. "The medics have Captain Millfield stabilized. They think she's gonna make it," he said, when the ambulance drove off.

"Are you charging Simon?" Olivia asked and released Elliot's hand.

"In light of her statement, that's a pile of paperwork I don't need to do," Tom said and left.

Elliot wrapped his arm around her and moved his hand on her back for support.

Finally Dean and Simon came out of the house, Dean went straight to his car to open the door for Simon, but he went to Olivia instead.

"I'm sorry for everything," Simon said.

"Me too," Olivia said heavily. Elliot held her tighter and supported her.

"We got to get going," Dean announced.

Simon looked at Olivia for what seemed a long time, but he couldn't find words, so he got into Dean's car.

"Where are you taking him?" Olivia asked.

"My office. I need his help to sort out this mess Millfield made," Dean explained and closed the car door. He too came to Olivia. "He's lucky. If it was me…" Dean said and looked intensely at Elliot, then back at Olivia. "I would have shot him," he said.

"Thank you," Olivia said and stepped forward towards Dean, Elliot's hand falling from her back in the process.

Dean nodded. "If I need your help with Marsden, I'll call you," he promised.

"Of course," Olivia said.

"Well, I'll try to keep in touch," Dean promised. "Take care of yourself, Olivia," Dean said and gave Olivia a half-hug.

"You too, Elliot," Dean turned to Elliot. The men shared a handshake, then Dean got into his car and drove off.

"Elliot, thank you," Olivia turned to her boyfriend.

"For what?" Elliot asked.

"Trusting me," Olivia replied.

Elliot smiled and looked around for any wandering state troopers, but there wasn't any, so he leaned in and kissed her.

"I've been trusting you to have my back for about 9 years now, every day I trust you with my life and for about 2,5 years I've trusted you with my heart. I always trust you," Elliot said.

"As do I," Olivia replied.

"You wanna get out of here?" Elliot asked.

She held out her hand which he gladly took. "Take me home, Elliot," she requested.

"Yes, ma'am," Elliot replied and led her to the squad car.

They drove in silence towards Manhattan, the emotions still running high, but a heavy burden was lifted from both of them.

"You know, all of this mess with Simon and what you put me through, I know how you can make it up to me," Elliot said.

"How then?" Olivia asked.

"A lot of sex. A lot of wild sex, that would surely end with a broken condom if we'd use them. And I don't mean just casual sex in the bed, tonight I've earned a night full of sex with you," Elliot smirked.

"Yeah, you have. And tonight you will get whatever you desire," Olivia promised.

Elliot looked at her and smiled. He put his hand on her thigh, where she covered it with hers. "I might as well be the luckiest guy alive," he announced.

"And I'm madly, insanely, head over heels in love with you," Olivia replied.

"Me too, babe, me too," Elliot replied.

"Oh, I can't wait to get home already," she whined.

Elliot smiled and turned on the police lights, then added speed.

"Elliot Stabler, did you turned on the lights so you could get laid faster?" Olivia accused him.

"It's an emergency," Elliot said in all seriousness, which caused Olivia to laugh. Soon Elliot joined.

"If you follow speed limits, I might even give you a strip tease," Olivia said seductively.

Elliot instantly turned off the blue light and slowed down. That caused another wave of laughter to hit them, so they laughed, after all it was well deserved after the rollercoaster they just had with Marsden, Millfield and the FBI.

***SVU***

Olivia woke up, when the smell of coffee hit her nostrils, a moment later her bedroom door opened fully and Elliot appeared.

"Good morning," he said, when he sat on the edge of the bed, leaned over and kissed her.

"Morning," Olivia mumbled into the kiss.

"Coffee is ready," Elliot announced.

"Good," Olivia replied.

Elliot stood from the bed and held his hand up to help her up.

"Brush your teeth and get dressed, then you'll get breakfast," he coaxed.

"A man who feeds me, I made the right choice," she said.

He pulled her up from the bed, kissed her once more and then disappeared to the kitchen.

"Start moving, we don't wanna be late on your first day back after a week-long pause," he shouted from the kitchen.

"Yes, sir," Olivia mocked while she put on her work clothes and entered the bathroom.

She took her toothbrush and brushed her teeth with care, while staring at her sleepy reflection in the mirror. She rinsed her mouth and opened the medical cabinet. She took out the oval box and took one very necessary pill.

She put the box back in the cabinet, but then froze.

"El, what date it is?" she shouted.

"It's 24th today, why?" Elliot replied.

"Nothing," Olivia shouted.

But it wasn't nothing, it was a really big fat something. She took out the pill box again and saw 3 more pills in there. Normally it wouldn't bother her, but since it was 24th she was slightly worried. In the back of the medical cabinet, she saw another oval box with red letters 25 written on it, which meant she had missed 3 pills that month.

Considering the amount of sex she and Elliot have been having she could be pregnant. But it would also mean that if Elliot wanted to have sex again, he'd have to wear a condom at least for some time.

"Everything okay?" Elliot suddenly appeared on the doorway.

Olivia unfroze, looked at him and smiled. "Of course," she replied and threw the box into trash.

"You were there for a long time," he commented.

"Don't you know that women like to admire themselves from time to time," she said and walked past Elliot, kissing his cheek as she did.

"Breakfast's served," he announced.

"Great, I'm starving," she said.

They got to the kitchen, sat down and enjoyed toast with coffee.

"You're quiet. Sure everything's okay?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, all is well," Olivia replied. "But you might wanna stack up on condoms, we're gonna have to use them for some time," she said absentmindedly.

"Why?" Elliot asked. "Something wrong with your pills?"

"Nothing's wrong with them, I just must have missed a few this month," she explained casually.

"You know I don't like them," Elliot whined.

Olivia nodded. "Well, let's put it like that – without condoms you won't be touching me for like a week," she deadpanned.

"I'm gonna get a load of them," he replied quickly.

A smile appeared on her face – there was suddenly a sense of normalcy in her life, some stability and something to look forward to. For once she was truly satisfied with her life, her relationship and her work – she seemed to have it all. And isn't talking about condoms and having sex during eating breakfast a clear sign of comfort, ease and normalcy?