He pulled back the sleeve of his jacket and anxiously checked the time on his watch. "It seems as though Detective Benson's arrival has been delayed," he commented with a puzzled look. "If I'm not mistaken, she is normally quite punctual?"

"She's at the airport saying goodbye to Agent Porter," Elliot grumbled just audibly enough for Dr. Taylor to hear.

Dr. Taylor squinted at him, peering over the edges of his Harry Potter style frames. "I see you are displeased at this notion?"

"They broke up," Elliot replied with a toss of his hands. "Does that mean she needs to see him off? This may come off as rude, but contrary to popular belief, he's a big boy. I think he can do it himself without her assistance."

Dr. Taylor regarded his patient with a stern look in response to his thoroughly snide remark. "Detective Stabler, I don't appreciate your use of derogatory statements in regards to - "

He stopped midsentence as a voice floated into the room. "Sorry I'm late," Olivia interjected, closing the office door silently behind her. "I didn't miss anything, did I?"

Dr. Taylor smiled warmly when his eyes came to rest on her. "Not at all," he said. "Have a seat, if you would be so kind."

As she lowered herself into a chair adjacent to Elliot, he took careful notice of the way Elliot refused to make eye contact with her. He chalked it up to one of two reasons; either he harbored resentment for her for what he considered a betrayal by canoodling with Agent Porter or that ever since he had realized his deep seated attraction for his partner he had found it hard to act like a normal human being in her presence.

He decided it was a compound of both.

"So I would prefer to just dive right so as to extradite this process," Dr. Taylor said as he flashed both of them a reassuring smile. "Detective Stabler tells me that you have been partners for over a decade now."

"Eleven years next month," Olivia answered calmly and without hesitation. He was well aware that he would have to use every trick in the book with Olivia Benson. She was not easily fooled by his subtle manner. "Why?"

"A partnership that long is almost equal to an average spanned marriage," Taylor remarked. "Clearly, given that that is the case, you must have some... well, problems just like married couples seem to."

Olivia leaned forward in interest. "Sexually?"

Elliot perked up at the mention of this. "With each other?"

Taylor chuckled at their reactions. "You misunderstand me," he said. "I am sure you are well aware that married couples have a tendency to develop a habit of bickering."

Elliot rolled his eyes in contempt. "I can relate to that."

"We do argue once in awhile," Olivia admitted. "But not when it matters."

"Care to elaborate?"

"We always agree that we do what's best for the victim," Olivia replied with feeling. "But sometimes along the way... we might lose sight of that. He thinks one thing is right, I think the other and eventually... well, our intentions were well meant but the execution was amiss."

"And do you believe Elliot's intentions were well meant when he chose to come to your aid after Victor Gitano sliced your throat over a scared little boy?"

Olivia turned her head, staring blankly at Elliot. "Do you tell him everything?"

Elliot shrugged and closed his eyes briefly. "He's really good at manipulation."

"Clearly," Olivia affirmed, turning back to be under the sage gaze of Dr. Taylor. "Under the circumstances, I think he did exactly what he was supposed to do. Check on me first and then seek out the little boy. We had cops crawling all over that place that could eventually catch him."

"And yet they didn't," Taylor pointed out. "While Elliot was checking on you, a little boy lost his life."

"So you're blaming me?" Olivia asked incredulously.

"Certainly not," Taylor corrected her. "This case was the reason you two split up after so many years together and one that ceases to go away. You each have your own opinions on the matter, opinions you never cared to share with each other. I am just trying to make you realize that while you may have witnessed your partner's angry reaction over the situation, you cannot speak for him. You chose a new partner without taking into account why he reacted the way he did. A life was lost that day and another one could have just as easily been stripped away in the blink of an eye. You cannot expect Elliot to come out of that all smiles, now can you?"

"But he..." Olivia began before she was interrupted by Taylor.

"It doesn't matter," Taylor said in the firmest voice he could muster. "Whether problems had been arising before or not, whether this happened or that happened, events played out as they did. If roles were reversed, tell me what you would have done?"

Olivia was quiet for a few moments before she came up with a response, whispering the answer in a breathy way. "I would have done the same."

Dr. Taylor smiled triumphantly at the pair, sighing in an amused way and placing his clipboard on his desk. "Communication is the key to life, Detectives. You both are very personally involved in one another's lives and that says something. Whether it's checking up on someone's criminal brother to make sure she stays out of harm's way herself to delivering his pregnant wife's baby, there seems to be a connection here neither of you can deny that stops you from being able to keep your grubby mitts off of each other's personal affairs. But, alas, I have overstepped my boundaries for one day and it seems as though my wife is here. I expect to see the both of you here tomorrow, same time. Have a nice day."

He left after his cheerful goodbye, and Elliot stood up to look at through the window at the scene unfolding. His eyes widened and his jaw slackened as he saw Dr. Taylor place a kiss on a supermodel looking woman. "Now that defies all logic."

He laughed at his own joke, expecting Olivia to guffaw at it too, but when he looked beside him, she was gone. She was already halfway own the steps by the time he caught her.

Elliot gently tugged at the base of her elbow. "We need to talk."

Olivia turned back to face him and he could see wear the tears had stained her cheeks. Had she been crying? It was so rare a sight to see that at first he was in disbelief. But Olivia was seldom confronted and he knew that the issue itself had hit deep. He wanted to assure her that it was just Taylor's methods and that he had meant no harm by it, but he stopped himself. Immediately he could feel the pain just as if someone had socked him in the stomach.

"You know what, Elliot?" she questioned, the words falling off her tongue in a jumble. "I really don't want to talk. I am all talked out for the day."

He was still holding on to her elbow and he gently pulled her around to face him. He eased her closer to his body and felt her chest shake with the force of a deep breath. It was then she continued to talk about not talking. "I just really need a break," Olivia said with a heavy sigh. "Especially from talking. That is what I need a break from, Elliot. Talking."

He gave her an impish smile and she stared at him almost nervously, wondering why he seemed to be at a loss for words and could only smile at her. Those piercing blue eyes and infamous grin always had an effect on her.

Elliot reached up, swiping a thumb across her cheek just like he had done that night when she had been so hurt over Porter. But this time, it was a different gesture even if it seemed the same. It wasn't about comfort this time.

He moved the hand away from her cheek to hold her face and used his other hand to brush a strand of loose hair way from her face, his smile not faltering and his face now only inches away from hers. "We don't have to talk."

Those were the last words she heard before his lips captured hers in a soft kiss.