OKay I thought this was finished but then this little chapter came to me X

He sat at his desk, struggling to concentrate as his new partner babbled incessantly in his ear,

"So what do you think?" the young girl asked softly.

Elliot looked up, "Uh..."

"You weren't listening were you?" she sighed. Charlotte Jones was bright eyed and bushy tailed – always. She was 25, graduated top of her class and talked as if her life depended on it. Her shoulder length brown hair was reminded him of Olivia, her blue eyes often sparkled when she spoke about bringing perps to justice.

"I'm sorry, say it again," he asked softly.

She rolled her eyes walking closer to him.

"I said that if we can get Tina Malone to make a statement that could be the foundation for the whole case again Thomson, so we should go-"

"Charlotte-" he started, the young girl was so passionate about protecting victims.

"Charlie," she corrected him, "How long is it going to take huh?" she gave him a teasing smile, "Uh, everything okay?" she asked softly, Elliot Stabler was never this quiet, she'd been with him only a few months, and he was as great as she imagined if not a little grumpy at times. She knew that she was the same age as his youngest daughter and figured he struggled with treating her as an adult. It didn't bother her, she loved her job.

"I uh, I'm going to take an early lunch, when I get back we'll go to Thompson's okay?" he asked,

"I could go while-"

"I don't want you to go without me,"

"Stabler, I know that you think I can't do anything on my own, but I can, nothing's going to happen to me okay I'm bulletproof!" she almost laughed, her smile faded as his face dropped.

"You're not invincible, the sooner you understand that the better," he walked out leaving her stunned, she'd never been on the receiving end of that tone before.

"What the hell is his problem?!" she threw her hands in the air as she sat back into her chair.

"You just picked the wrong words kid-"

"I'm not a kid Fin, and what do you mean the wrong words?" she asked, trying to hide her frown.

"A year ago his partner of 10 years was shot dead, she died in his arms," he didn't need to say anything else.

Guilt overwhelmed Charlie as she mentally kicked herself, bulletproof, what an idiot. "I didn't know," she mumbled, that's why he's so over protective? I thought it was because I was young-"

"It's probably a mix of the two, Elliot's a good man, it took him a long time to agree to having a new partner and I think you're just a little bit...more talkative than he's used to."

"His partner...what was she like...you guys never mention her," she was confused, she figured that Elliot's old partner had simply left, no one mentioned a death.

"It hit us all pretty hard, Liv was...Liv was great," a tinge of sadness, in his voice.

Charlie nodded, Fin obviously wasn't ready to talk about the woman who she had replaced.

"I'm sorry Fin," she told him, giving him a sympathetic look. "I didn't know, I uh, I'll be more careful."

**

It had been two hours since Fin had informed Charlie that Elliot had held his partner in his arms as she died. As they sat in the car on the way to pick up a perp she cleared her throat for the third time.

"Something you wanna say?" he asked, still agitated by her lack of concern for her own safety.

"Uh, Fin told me about your partner, Olivia," she saw him flinch at the mention of his ex partner's name. "If I had known I would never have said anything-"

"You didn't know, don't worry about it."

"It must have been...it must have been awful," she whispered, struggling not to sound like a little girl.

"I don't want to talk about it,"

"Yeah, I got that, you uh, you never mention her, considering she was your partner for 10 years I thought-"

"Charlotte! I don't want to talk about Olivia okay?" he slammed his foot down on the breaks, grateful that there was no one behind him.

She didn't say a word.

He started the car again and they drove in silence.

**

He had to apologise, that much he knew. The poor kid had only been asking a few questions and he nearly bit her head off. He shook his head, he needed to stop thinking about her as a kid, yes she was the same age as his daughter but she was very mature, she was also a damn good police officer.

She was in the locker room, he could see her sat alone on the bench, for the first time ever she looked upset.

"Charlie..." he walked in slowly.

She looked up, "Elliot, hi." She stood up, "Listen I'm-"

"I'm sorry," he got there first, "I didn't mean to snap at you, I uh, I find it easier not to talk about her," he admitted.

She nodded.

"She was, amazing, she was the best and I uh, I miss her every day," he had no idea why he was being so honest, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

"I'm sorry..." she looked like she was in deep thought, "Uh, it's not the same thing but...my mom was shot, I uh, I held her in my arms while she died," she tried to hide the sadness in her voice, "So uh, I understand – kind off, it's different."

"I'm sorry," Elliot told her sympathetically, moving closer to her.

"I guess you'll find out sooner or later, my dad...shot my mom," she waited for his eyebrows to raise, instead his expression didn't change.

"That's why you got into SVU?" he asked.

She nodded, "I wanted to help people, so uh, so that's why you carry on right? For Olivia?"

"She would've kicked my ass if I stopped, I wanted to, but uh, I'm glad i didn't."

"It gets easier," she told him, obviously uncomfortable talking about her own situation.

"You know, you remind me of someone," he smiled.

She looked up at him,

"Was she beautiful too?" she joked, trying to ease the sadness.

"She was uh, she was beautiful and compassionate, and she was a damn good cop."

His words echoed through her mind as she felt like she finally understood her partner.

**

Elliot sat in the graveyard, he simply stared at Olivia's headstone.

"She uh, she's a pain, she talks too much and she's way to enthusiastic sometimes, but she's uh, she's a good cop, she kind of reminds me of you when you started," he told her, "I miss you Liv, still, and this kid she just reminds me how much, I don't want you to think I've forgotten you, I would never be able to it's just...sometimes it's easier to try and forget." He admitted, feeling stupid for talking to a piece of stone. "I uh, I can't believe it's been a year, a year today since I lost you," he sighed, "You uh, you changed me, loosing you changed me, I'm a better person for knowing you Liv, you made me a better person. I miss you, I'll never stop missing you uh, I promise to drop by more, I'll need somewhere quiet now that I have Charlie to contend with, I uh, I'll be back soon, I promise." He gently touched the stone as he walked away, knowing that he had finally faced his demons, and that she was still with him.

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