A/N- Thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews and feedback! Sorry for the delay, hope everyone enjoys this next chapter.

Disclaimer- Same old, same old. DW owns it all.

Holy Cross Hospital

Walton County, Oregon

Monday October 9th, 2006

9:00 am

While participating in yet another protest with the activist group she'd infiltrated over a month before, Olivia Benson aka Persephone James was struck upside the head hard enough to knock her unconscious and leave her with a mild concussion; landing her in the hospital.

"Alex. Alex," Olivia mumbled in her sleep.

"Hey, who's Alex?" Hope, one of the other activists asked from the next bed.

Olivia's eyes snapped open, "What?"

"You've been mumbling the name 'Alex' all night," Hope replied.

Now fully awake, Olivia started to sit up only to discover she'd been handcuffed to the hospital bed. "Where are we?"

"County Hospital. Prison Ward. Deputy Abu Ghraib tried to brain you for helping T-Bone," Hope explained.

Olivia nodded in understanding; the events of the night before slowly coming back to her bits and pieces at a time.

I was saying Alex's name in my sleep? Oh god, did I say anything more than that? Only one way to know for sure.

Olivia turned to Hope and asked, "I didn't say anything else, did I?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"All I could make out was 'Alex'. So spill, who is he?" Hope asked like a curious school girl.

Olivia just shook her head and sunk into her pillow and sighed, "Nobody." Just quite possibly the most amazing person I've ever known, that I'll probably never see again.

Home of Olivia Benson

203 W. 89th St. Apt. 4D

Friday October 13th, 2006

6:00pm

By the end of the week Olivia found herself home, in her own comfy apartment. Her undercover assignment with the feds finally over and she was able to make it back to New York in time to testify and help salvage yet another case for Casey.

After taking a long, relaxing shower, Olivia changed into a pair of her favorite jeans and one of her favorite sweaters. She had turned the thermostat up when she first got home but it was still a little chilly. She padded into the kitchen and put the kettle on to make some tea.

While she was waiting for the water to boil, she thought back to that night in the hospital. I wonder why I was saying Alex's name in my sleep. It must've been the concussion. Well, it's not like I don't think about her, I definitely do think about her… a lot. But not like that or is it like that? Damn, I do miss you Alex. I hope you're ok, wherever you are. I need to talk to El. Ugh, Elliot. Yeah, I need to talk to El about a lot of things.

Deciding now was as good a time as any, Olivia shut the stove off, pulled on her boots grabbed her leather jacket and keys and headed out the door.

Special Victims Unit

16th Precinct, NYC

Friday October 13th, 2006

7:30pm

The elevator opened and Olivia stepped out into the hallway of her second home, the 1-6. It does feel good to be home. Now, if I can just find you El so we can sit down and clear the air. I need your advice partner but I also need to know that we're good.

Olivia's thoughts were interrupted when she walked through the squad room doors and saw someone else was sitting at her desk. Before she could stop herself, a flare of jealousy ran through her. For some reason that she couldn't explain, Olivia instantly did not like this woman. Never one to back down, Olivia took a deep breath and approached the woman sitting at her desk.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for Detective Stabler."

"He's already left for the evening. Maybe I can help you, I'm his partner, Dani Beck."

Like hell you are. "Oh, no, that's okay. I think I know where to find him."

Once Olivia was back outside, she pulled out her cell phone and hit number one on her speed dial. A familiar voice answered on the second ring.

"Stabler."

"Hey, El. It's me."

"Liv, damn it's good to hear your voice. Where are you?"

"I'm standing outside the precinct. Where are you?"

Her partner's rumbling laugh filled her ears, "I'm at my crappy, semi-bachelor pad. Wishin' I was at my much nicer home in Queens but I'm still not too welcome there."

"Do you wanna meet somewhere? We need to talk partner. I need your advice."

"Yeah, we do need to talk. I'll meet you at Mulroney's in 20."

"I'll see ya soon." Olivia snapped her phone shut, hopped in a cab and headed for the squads usual hangout.

Mulroney's Bar

219 W. 55th St.

Friday October 13th, 2006

8:00pm

Elliot did a quick scan of the bar as he walked in the door. Within a few moments, he saw the familiar face he was looking for and began to make his way through the crowd to the booth near the back corner where Olivia was already seated.

"Hey," was his simple greeting as he took off his jacket and took a seat on the booth bench across from his best friend.

"Hey. I went ahead and ordered for you, hope you don't mind," Olivia explained as she passed Elliot a bottle of his favorite beer.

"Thanks," was all Elliot said as he took the bottle and proceeded to take a long pull from it.

The duo sat there for a few minutes in a semi-comfortable silence yet they could both feel the underlying tension building between them. Both knew they needed to talk, clear things up between them but neither really knew where to start.

Finally, Olivia broke the silence, "Why is this suddenly so hard? It never used to be this way with us El. What happened?"

"I don't know, Liv. Somewhere along the way, something changed but I don't really know why. I do know that I don't like it. In fact, I hate it. You're my best friend Liv. Hell, you're more than that, you're like a sister to me."

"It seems to me, things changed after Gitano. I know I should've come to you then, talked things out. But you know me, when things get too personal I cut and run. I shouldn't have done that with you and I'm sorry. Before I had a chance to make amends, I got roped into that undercover thing out in Oregon."

"Nah, I think it started sooner than Gitano. For me at least, it was after Kathy and I separated. My whole world was crumbling right before my eyes and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it. All I had left that still felt secure, was the job and you. Maybe I unconsciously became more dependent on you. I guess Huang would call it transference or somethin' like that. I was replacing Kathy with you and it put too much pressure on what we already had and ruined it. And for that, Liv, I'm sorry."

"So, how do we fix it?"

"Isn't that what we're doin' right now?"

"Yeah, I guess we are," Olivia laughed. "So… are we good?"

Elliot laughed and took one last drink of his beer, "Yeah, partner… we're good."

And it was good. They each felt the tension that had built up over the last year or so finally dissipate and the genuinely comfortable silence and unspoken bond they'd spent years building, return. The waitress brought them another round.

"So, who's the void sitting at my desk?" Olivia casually asked with a grin as she took a sip of her gin and tonic.

Elliot chuckled and took a drink of his second beer, "Uh… that's Dani Beck. My temporary partner."

"Damn right she's temporary. Unless of course you like her better…," Olivia commented giving a Elliot a teasing look.

"Yeah, right. Let's see, I could keep Dani as my partner and continue to have an uphill battle on almost every case, cause she just can't handle the victims well, at all. Or, I could have the best partner I've ever had back. One of the only people I can have an entire conversation with without saying a word, the only partner I've ever truly been 100% in sync with; the other half of the dynamic duo," Elliot gestured with his hands like he was balancing a scale. "Hmmm, I don't know. It's a tough choice," he laughed with a playful sparkle in his eyes.

"So, I'm guessing we'll talk to Cragen on Monday?" Olivia grinned.

"You got it, partner," Elliot agreed. "You said on the phone you needed my advice about somethin'. What's up?"

Now, Olivia suddenly felt uncomfortable again. She took another, longer drink of her gin and tonic, leaned back into the backrest of the booth and let out a deep sigh.

Elliot cocked his head to the side and gave her a questioning look, "What is it, Liv? You know you can talk to me about anything. That's part of what makes us, us."

Olivia nodded knowingly, "Yeah, I know, it's… I just don't know where to start."

"The beginning is always good," Elliot offered with a grin.

Olivia thought about what she wanted to say or if she should say anything for a few more seconds then realized Elliot was right. She could talk to him about anything. And now that it seemed that they were back to being 'Liv & El', she decided to take a chance, "Something kinda odd happened while I was in Oregon."

"Ok, odd like what?"

"It was earlier this week actually. I was at a protest, got clubbed upside the head and ended up in the hospital with a mild concussion. While I was out of it, apparently, I was overheard mumbling someone's name in my sleep," she explained.

Elliot's curiosity was now piqued, "Who's name?" He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table.

"Uh… umm… Alex," Olivia responded her voice just loud enough for Elliot to hear.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise and a mischievous grin spread across his face, "Really?" was his only response.

"Yeah. What do you think that means?" she asked the nervousness obvious in her voice.

"If you're looking for deep meaning, don't you think you should be asking Huang that question?" Elliot joked.

"El, I'm serious. I'm asking you as my friend, as my brother. I don't want my head shrunk, I need some brotherly advice." Olivia replied sternly.

Realizing that she really was being serious and was genuinely wanting his advice, Elliot stopped joking around, "I think, since you said this happened while you had a concussion, that it was your subconscious tryin' to tell you somethin'. I don't know if you've ever admitted it to yourself, but I know you have feelings for Alex. You always have."

"How do you… never mind… I already know the answer to that," Olivia shrugged. She knew full well that Elliot was one of the only people she'd ever known that could read her almost like an open book at times. She'd always been successful at keeping the rest of the world at arm's length or more but not Elliot. That was part of why they worked so well together. They just got each other, it had been that way since day one.

"Well, regardless of my feelings for Alex, it doesn't really matter does it? She's still God knows where. And who knows if or when she'll ever be coming home." Olivia said with disappointment filling her voice.

Elliot just smiled knowingly, "Hmmm, you never know, Liv. Things can change in the blink of an eye, my friend."