Author's Note: So sorry for the long delay in updating but work has been CRAZY. Due to my time away I decided to make this one longer and we've done enough character and situation introductions...let's just dive right on into the good stuff shall we?

What are you doing for lunch today?

Olivia smiles down at the text message, her thumb rubbing back and forth against the glass display. The last twenty four hours seemed like a blur. After their conversation the other night,she and Elliot had been texting back and forth throughout the day while she navigated work and Noah. The messages aren't about anything in particular. Work. The kids. He cracks a joke about something he was watching on TV. The ordinary texts are amusing and seem so familiar, reminding her of their time together. Despite their closeness in the past, there are a lot of things they didn't talk about. If someone were to ask her what his favorite movie or song is, she wouldn't know, but ask her what was his biggest fear or what keeps him up at night and the answer comes to her with ease.

Becoming his father. That someone would hurt his children.

That is the essence of their relationship. Skipping the surface level and diving in much deeper than any two 'normal' people would. Normal people who didn't see the depravity of the world they witnessed everyday and still be expected to function conventionally. This is what separates them from others and why everyone she dates or any attempts at a relationship never quite measure up. Secrets and fears embedded inside of her that no one would ever reach, but him. Never said aloud, never hinted at, but just known. Because he knows her inside and out.

It is that familiarity that kept her glued to her phone the previous day, anticipating the next message, watching for blemishes of the old Elliot that she once loved mixed with the new Elliot that despite the warnings in the back of her head she is anxious to get to know.

She never figured him for much of a texter, but he is trying to be respectful of her space and time and it is appreciated. She presses reply and messages him back.

Don't know. You know how things get around here.

The need to meet up with him again under different circumstances, preferably not under the gaze of his date who happened to be her sorta kinda friend, is unwavering.

Pippa.

She needs to talk to Pippa.

His reply comes quickly. Ok I'll settle for coffee then.

Before she can respond, another message filters in. Before you say no, I know the coffee there hasn't been upgraded in the past five years so you are probably dying for Starbucks. Meet me in half an hour at our usual spot.

She immediately looks at the time. 9:13am. Everything is pretty quiet at the moment while the squad is chasing down leads. Taking a deep breath she quickly replies, See you in 30.

Elliot tries to suppress the butterflies in his stomach while he sits in the back of the coffee shop waiting for her. Not surprisingly, he got there early, telling himself that he just wanted to find a quiet spot in the back where there would be the least amount of interruption as possible. He orders her usual and waits, hoping it will be just the right temperature when she arrives so she won't have to wait for it to cool before she can drink it.

His phone begins to vibrate in his pocket and he is startled. Rushing to answer it, he prays it isn't Olivia calling to cancel. It isn't. It's Pippa. His finger hovers over the decline button, but he already avoided her the day before, keeping their conversation brief so he could text back and forth with his ex-partner instead.

He sighs, glances around to make sure Olivia isn't approaching, and answers the call briskly. "Hey Pippa, how's it going?"

"Hey I'm sorry. Did I interrupt you? You sound in a hurry."

"Uhh no...well yeah," he stumbles. "I'm at the coffee shop." It isn't a total lie. He is at the coffee shop, but he just happens to leave out the part that he is meeting someone. Olivia.

"Oh," she responds in surprise. That doesn't sound like something that would make him busy but she presses forward. "Well anyway, I was just curious if you wanted to have dinner tonight. I know it's last minute and I also wasn't sure if you took care of that thing we talked about."

Elliot begins to look around again and checks his watch. She will be walking in any moment now. "Yeah, what thing?" There is a woman walking towards the door that looks like her so he stands in anticipation of her approach but it ends up being a false alarm.

"Olivia." That gets his attention and he sits back down.

"What about her?"

"Did you talk to her?"

Closing his eyes, he wills himself to come up with something that isn't a lie but doesn't want to delve into details either. This is his trademark. Saying just enough without spilling his guts. No wonder he is divorced.

"Yeah, I did. The other day actually. I forgot to tell you yesterday."

"Oh. It went well then?" And there is that inquisitiveness of hers that slightly rubs him the wrong way. Of course she would want to know, but he isn't willing to discuss. Not yet.

"It did. Everything's all good."

There is a slight pause. Pippa recognizes that he is hiding something and he holds himself back from rushing her to speak when he finally does spot Olivia walking towards him. Her hair is straight this time, not wavy like before and he can see it is the length it was when he last saw her before he resigned. There is a hint of a smile on her face but her fingers are moving anxiously at her side. She is nervous, too. It shouldn't matter, but it makes him smile all the same. Maybe, just maybe, if she is as nervous as he is then it's for the same reasons. There is hope for them yet.

"So dinner tonight then?" Pippa asks, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Oh yeah sure that's fine. Look I have to go. I will talk to you later and we can work out the details ok?"

She had barely muttered "Ok," before he hangs up the phone and stands up to meet Olivia who has just spotted him.

His palms are sweaty and he wipes them on his jeans, putting the phone back into his pocket.

It seems like it takes forever for her to reach him. Dressed in a caramel colored knee length jacket, black shirt, and black slacks, she is still as beautiful as he remembers. There have only been a handful of times times that he has seen his partner outside of her usual work attire and that's when they were undercover or when he would go to her apartment to watch movies during his separation. Whether she is dressed up to play his wife in a sex club or lounging on her couch in a t-shirt and jogging pants, Olivia was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. In that moment, he is amazed that he was able to behave himself for all those years they were partners.

"Hey." His skin prickles at the low tone in her voice that she saved for certain times when they were either conspiring or she was trying to comfort him. It does nothing to stop his nervousness. Standing awkwardly for a second longer than he should have, he reaches out to give her a hug. Clearly taken aback by the gesture, she returns the hug but keeps her lower body away from his. It's friendly, but she holds on a beat longer. Just long enough for him to smell her shampoo when his nose lands near her hair and to warm the slight chill of her skin.

"I ordered your usual," he announces, pulling back and motioning for her to have a seat.

"Thanks." Placing her coat on the back of her chair she turns to face him, looking down at the coffee cup. "I can't stay too long but thanks for inviting me."

It is all too formal and although it bothers him, he had to expect it. This is the first time they have been alone together in five years. Seamless text conversations or not, this is vastly different. The air is charged and thick with words that have been unsaid. All of the courage and ease with which they spoke on the phone has whittled away.

"Thanks for coming. I know it was short notice." Elliot clears his throat, his voice more hoarse than he realized. Four of his fingers tap the side of his cup and he watches closely as she takes a tentative sip from hers.

"It's no problem."

After avoiding eye contact for a few long moments, their eyes finally met. He was worried after seeing her in the restaurant that he wouldn't be able to read her any longer, but it is all there. Anxiety. Fear. Comfort. Familiarity. His lip curls upward slightly, giving her a shy smile and allowing her to see that he is feeling the exact same. He sees the moment the realization hits her and thinks he hears her breathe a small sigh of relief.

"So…why couldn't Dani cut it?" she asks with a smirk on her face. It takes him a moment to catch the joke and they both begin to laugh.

History.

She remembers.

The awkwardness reminiscent of when they were sitting in the coffee shop after her return from Oregon and they were working the Masoner case. This time, it isn't her that is returning, it is him. It isn't just a few months and a new partner in the way, it's five years and trauma she has endured. The stakes are higher.

"Is this the part where I ask you how you liked working alone?" The words are out of his mouth before he realizes his mistake. Her face falls and works quickly to fix it. "I'm sorry."

Her hand reaches across the table to touch his shoulder. "It's fine."

"No it's not. I didn't mean for this-I mean."

"It was easier on the phone right?" Her hand slides down his arm, touching his elbow and he hopes she will leave it there. It is a simple touch. Not much, but it is something. A small gesture, perhaps. He will take anything he can get at this point.

"Yeah, it was."

"Do you want me to go outside and call you?" she jokes and he laughs again.

"No. Please stay Liv. I'm glad we got to do this. I know you don't have much time but I just wanted to see you. Make sure you are doing okay and apologize. In person."

Olivia nods her head but doesn't speak. This is his time to say what he needs to say and she won't distract him or do anything to take away from this moment. It's a moment she wasn't sure she would ever get so she keeps her answer simple. "I'm fine."

His hand scrubs down his face in frustration. Her patented answer just isn't going to be enough, but he will have to settle for it until he did some explaining of his own.

"When the shooting happened," he begins and she winces at the memory. "I was just so tired. I didn't want to go through everything all over again. I had just been through the ringer with IAB on the whole Hunter Mazelin case and then a few months before with Hank Roberts."

Her heart is beginning to race at the mention of IAB again. Denial. She has been good with that. Her first instinct is to go that route but in a split second she decides to be real with herself. There is a very good chance that her current, "almost boyfriend", was the major roadblock in why she lost her partner. "They made it clear that it was not going to be easy for me to return. There were some….factors that helped with the decision. Or should I say factor."

Olivia expels the breath she had been holding. "And what's that?"

"I know how important SVU is to you. I had started to lose my passion for it but I knew it was always your family and I just couldn't-"

The confusion is evident all over her face. Is he really blaming her for leaving?

"What does me loving SVU have anything to do with why you left? And even so, why didn't you call? I called you a thousand times. I left messages," her voice rising more than she intended. "I went by your house."

"We left," he interrupts. "I took the family away for a few weeks while I made my decision and uhh I guess I came to some other decisions too."

"Your divorce," she finishes for him.

"Yeah. We separated after that trip. I turned in my papers and moved out after that. Everything was moving so fast. I just needed to get my life in order."

Order. That she understood. It is what she strove for in the aftermath of his absence but never felt like she truly had a handle on. He was always such a force in her life and despite what she thought, she never truly recovered from his absence.

"I guess-I guess I can understand that. I'll be honest El I just-I dont know how to-." Do this. Forgive you. Move past it.

She bows her head in frustration at not being able to form the right words. Her cell phone begins to vibrate and they both sigh simultaneously. Pippa. Not knowing whether to disclose who it is or not, she just decides to accept the call.

"Hey Pippa what's going on?" she answers and looks directly at Elliot for any kind of response. He holds his ground not letting any anxiety or discomfort show. "Yeah ok. I'll be right there."

Elliot's shoulders slump and he knows their brief encounter is over.

Olivia shoots him a sympathetic look. "Sorry I-"

"Gotta go. I understand." He's disappointed. There won't be many other opportunities to see her again and he doesn't know if she will even be up for it.

"Can we actually do dinner or lunch one day?" He's desperate to see her again. There's so much left that he needs to say.

"We will see El. Either way in the meantime," she holds up her phone. "There's always text messages." As much as she hates to admit it to him, she enjoys the little conversations with him throughout the day.

Ready to leave, Olivia stands and there is another awkward pause before she finally reaches out to hug him again. It's a little friendlier than the first and it takes every ounce of restraint Elliot has not to hold her against him longer. His hand rests at the small of her back as he guides her out of the coffee shop on to the sidewalk where they will part ways. The gesture doesn't go unnoticed and for a second Olivia can feel the imprint of his big hand burning against her flesh as if her blouse and coat are nonexistent. His touch is recognizable but strange. An alarming paradox that has been the crux of their relationship for so long.

Out on the sidewalk, she stays close to him to make sure his hand doesn't dislodge from her back. Their eyes meet for a split second and she can see them marred with hesitation and concern.

"I really need to go," she repeats but her feet don't move. His hand squeezes the small of her back, his eyes blazing and she can feel his breath brushing her face. It's too intense. The moment has to be broken. "Your girlfriend is waiting for me back at the office." Elliot exhales and furrows his brow in annoyance.

"She's not my girlfriend," he grates, irritation evident on his face.

She's even frustrated with herself. It was a poor attempt at humor to lighten a moment that wasn't meant to be light. Or easy. Or simple. It is five years worth of unresolved feelings and emotions that one cup of coffee will not solve. Instinctively, her hand rests on his upper arm, her face moving a fraction of an inch closer to him. She can feel that he needs to be reassured. To know that it is ok. That she is ok. "I'm really fine El. With everything."

The muscle in his arm slacks and some of the tension under her fingertips leaves his body. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. After everything that happened with Lewis and even a couple of months ago, I went back to my therapist and started-"

"Wait," he holds his hand up to stop her, his other hand falling from her back. "What do you mean a couple of months ago? I thought Lewis was dead."

Olivia pauses, trying to hold her ground and not let him see the emotions play out on her face. He doesn't know.

Her other close encounter a couple of months ago made the news for one night and wasn't a media circus like her Lewis ordeal, but she assumed he knew.

"Nothing. It's nothing."

"Bullshit," he pulls her closer. His hands are on the small of her back again but this time his grip is more forceful. Frightened. Worried.

"Tell me please."

Exhaling and closing her eyes, she wills herself to find the words. More and more people pass by on the sidewalk and he ushers her off to the side until they are both leaning against the window of the building. It buys her a few seconds to come up with something that will put his mind at ease but when it comes to her safety, he will never be at ease. If there is one thing about him she knows hasn't changed, this is it. The sharp gaze in his eyes that is piercing through her at this very moment is solid proof of that.

Right when her mouth opens to answer him, her phone rings again. "Benson...I'll be right there."

"Liv-"

"I really have to go," she pulls away from his hold, stuffing her phone back into her pocket. "I will call you. We will finish talking. Ok?"

Elliot opens and closes his fists at his side trying to remain calm. "Yeah I'll call you later." He gives her hand a quick squeeze and watches her walk away.

"Hey what took you so long?" Pippa asks, looking at her watch as Olivia comes barreling into the office.

"Sorry I got held up."

"With your mystery guy that you're seeing?" Pippa prods playfully.

Olivia freezes briefly before quickly shedding her coat and lifting the lid to her laptop. "What?"

"Oh come on. I heard the tone of your voice when you answered. You sounded different. Call it intuition."

Olivia clears her throat and laughs nervously. "So you wanted to talk about the case. You have something for me?"

It works. "Oh yeah right so I was able to get to Judge Remington. He agreed to sign off on the warrant."

They discuss the case and Dodds and Fin are sent out to execute the search warrant. They also talk about the trial of another case that is quickly approaching. By the time they wrap up, a couple of hours have passed.

"Ok so I guess we are good to go," Olivia clicks the end of her pen, sets it on the desk, and removes her glasses.

Pippa stands but hesitates to grab her jacket. There is something else she wants to discuss but isn't sure how to approach the subject.

Olivia senses her hesitation and speaks up first. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah," she fidgets with the edges of her red blazer. "I was just wondering...how did your talk with Elliot go?"

Once again, Olivia is taken off guard. Had he told her just that quickly they had met for coffee? He would've had to call pretty much the minute she left him. That bothers her.

"Umm yeah. It went fine."

She opens her laptop again trying to appear busy so Pippa will let it go. She isn't so lucky.

"Well I'm glad," she adds, putting on her coat and grabbing her briefcase. "I just want you to know I don't want things to be weird or anything especially with the things I told you I suspected about him and his old partner. Well you." Olivia can tell she is being genuine and she regrets for a brief second being standoffish but she isn't interested in discussing anything regarding Elliot until she knows for sure where they stand.

"Thanks. I appreciate that," she offers with a tight smile. "For what it's worth, he and I talked and it shouldn't be weird for anyone." It isn't a complete lie. There was a conversation. But there needs to be more and until then, there is going to be a level of awkwardness that she will have to navigate, but this isn't her first rodeo. If anyone is a master at weeding through the world of Elliot Stabler and the women in his life, it is her.

Pippa smiles back cautiously. "Thanks I appreciate that. It was important to me that you guys clear the air. I even told him that we would not go out again until you guys talked so...here we are."

Olivia's whole body stills. Her throat is instantly dry. Her eyes buck for a brief moment before she recovers. That's why he called her. That's why he was so insistent on making everything right so he could continue to date Pippa. The anger begins to rise inside of her and the grip on her pen tightens to the point where she is making indentations in her hand.

"Olivia? You ok?"

Say something. Speak. She has to get Pippa out of the office so she can deal with her warring emotions without an audience

"Yeah I'm fine. It just dawned on me. I need to check on Noah," she lies. It is the only excuse she can think of on a whim. The first thought that pops into her head always. Her son.

"Umm ok," Pippa watches her confused. She looks like she wants to say something else, but Olivia's body language signals that it isn't the right time. "Well glad everything is squared away and call me when they are done with the search warrant ok?"

With that, she is gone and all Olivia can hear is the echo of Pippa's black pumps repeatedly colliding with the hard floors.

Sonofabitch. Again. It had all happened again. She believed she was an important part of his life. He has started to invade her thoughts again, just like he did when they worked together. She had dropped work to meet him that morning, stayed up late the night before thinking about him. Once again pushed aside someone who cares about her, all to focus her attention on him.

His focus, however, was somewhere else. On Pippa. And she would not allow herself to be made a fool of again.

Within seconds, her phone is in her hand, scrolling through the missed call log to the name she is seeking.

Ed.

He answers on the second ring and she immediately begins to talk. "Hey, sorry to bother you at work. I know we have plans for dinner tomorrow night but I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink after work."

Elliot sits in his Jeep, staring at the time on the display. 6:53pm. Meaning it has been three hours since he sat in front of his laptop and googled his former partner. Two hours since he threw his laptop in a rage after reading not only had she been taken hostage in a standoff a few short months ago, but learning details about the Lewis case he didn't know previously. Those details had him pacing back and forth in his apartment, calling his former captain and cursing to himself when he only got his voicemail.

Ultimately, he grabbed his car keys.

Air.

He needed air.

He needed to speak to Olivia.

His apartment was stifling and he just needed to talk to her. He called her three times and each time he could tell she sent the call to voicemail. Frantically, he texted her asking her to call him back but there was no response.

After driving around the city, he ends up at the last place he knows he should be. The precinct. He has been staked out for over an hour waiting for her to emerge so he could talk to her. For a second, he thought about going in, but he didn't want to completely blow his chances of talking to her knowing she would blow a gasket if he showed up at her job.

He fiddles with the radio, rubs his palms against his thighs trying to ease his angst. They need to talk. Olivia says she is ok and he doesn't have a reason not to believe her other than the fact that he doesn't understand how she could be. After everything she has endured, how could she just be ok? It was like Sealview all over again. She never admitted what happened to her, but her behavior in the months following led him to believe there was more that she was keeping secret. Not this time. No more secrets.

Elliot's attention stays firmly on the front door of the building. As far as he was concerned, with her schedule he could be out there all night but that doesn't matter. He will wait as long as it takes.

He glances at the clock again. 7:04pm. Laying back on the headrest, he is just starting to relax when he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. He jumps, hoping it is Olivia and he will tell her he is waiting outside to talk to her. He glances at the display and sees the name. Pippa.

"Shit," he curses to himself, realizing he forgot about their dinner plans.

"Hey," he answers, still watching the front of the building. "I'm sorry I didn't call you back."

"It's no problem. How much longer are you going to be? I'm waiting out front for you."

Elliot screws his eyes shut for a fraction of a second, his head falling back against the headrest while he works up a viable excuse. "I'm going to have to cancel tonight. I'm so sorry. An emergency came up and I have to take care of it."

"Oh," Pippa responds, the disappointment evident in her tone. "Well I wish you could've told me sooner but I get it."

He feels bad for lying, but telling her the truth about needing to talk to Olivia will cause some friction between the two of them and the last thing he wants to do is cause possible problems between them at work.

"We will reschedule for ne-". Elliot stops mid sentence as he watches the scene play out before him in slow motion. Olivia walks out of the building quickly towards her sedan and before he can put his hand on the car door to get out, she is walking over to a car parked next to hers.

"Elliot you there?" Pippa interrupts.

"Yeah I'm here hold on a second." He squints his eyes, trying to get a better view, and sees her look around to see if anyone is watching and bends down into the driver's side window of the car to place a quick kiss on the person's lips. Her body is blocking his view and he can't make out any facial features, but he realizes this must be the man she is seeing.

He exhales, trying to get a grip on the anger and jealousy that he feels bubbling up inside of him. It isn't about that now. She deserves to be happy and if she has someone in her life doing that, then he would be happy for her.

"Pippa I'll call you back," he says quickly and hangs up the phone, still staring across the street. It is another moment before Olivia steps away from the car and the driver gets out to walk to her car. They are roughly the same height and a few cars pass by, obstructing his view. He thinks he recognizes his profile but isn't entirely sure. The man opens the door for her and walks around the back of her sedan. That's when he sees a clear shot of his face. Olivia's boyfriend.

Ed Tucker.