Disclaimer: They're still Dick's.

Author's Note: I'm hoping I managed to get a decent mix of angst and fluff without going overboard on either. Great big giant thank you to Mousie962 for beta-ing this for me - you are truly awesome. And Emily, the last part's for you ;).

- - -

Olivia leans back in her seat, taking a deep steadying breath, and tries to keep herself from having a panic attack. She could be on the witness stand, interrogating dangerous criminals, or standing with a gun pointing right at her and not be as nervous as she is right now. "Elliot, do we have to tell the kids tonight?" she asks, her hand hiding her face as she turns her head slightly to look at him.

He glances at her out of the corner of his eye as he takes a right, turning onto his old street in Queens. He studies her for a moment before shaking his head, noticing how nervous she looks. "If you're not comfortable telling them tonight, we can wait. I just don't want to keep this from them, Liv. I don't want to sneak around behind their backs with this relationship."

She nods, sighing loudly and looking out the window. "I'm just..." she trails off before she admits anything she'll regret. "I know it sounds stupid, but what if they-"

"Olivia." His says her name gently, quietly, interrupting her before she gets herself even more worked up. "My kids adore you. They might not be thrilled about this at first, but they'll get used to the idea. They're going to have to, and I think you'll be surprised by how quickly they accept this."

She nods, reaching over and lacing her fingers through his, squeezing them tightly. "All right, let's tell them."

"Good," he smiles, pulling into the driveway. He squeezes her hand one more time before letting go to put his car in park and turn off the ignition. "You want to come in with me?"

She shakes her head. "I'll stay. I know you already told her, but I'm just not sure how comfortable I am being around your ex-wife yet."

He nods, leaning over to press a chaste kiss to her lips. "I'll be right back," he assures her, heading into the house.

She waits in the car, tapping her foot against the blue carpeting, trying to keep herself from completely exploding from nerves. A few minutes pass before she sees the front door open again, and the entire time, she is fighting the panic attack she can feel bubbling up under the surface. She's only dated one other person with kids, and he hadn't exactly been a serious relationship, so she's never gone through the meeting-the-kids ritual. It's not like that with Elliot's kids, she knows, because they've grown up around her. But everything about her relationship with them is suddenly completely different. Before, she was their father's spinster partner, taking up the extra seat at the table at Thanksgiving and Christmas; the one who gave awesome birthday presents and told their father to lighten up about curfew rules, Maureen's boyfriends, and about their grades. But now, she's a possible future stepmother (a thought that makes her even more nervous than before); the woman who is taking the place of their mother in their father's life. She knows it's not that simple, that his kids are old enough to see their relationship for what it is and to trust her to back off and let them live their lives without trying to act as a parent. But she's still afraid of how they'll react, of how Elliot will deal with their reactions. They've only been seeing each other for a little over a week, but the thought of breaking it off completely crushes her. She knows that's an extremely unlikely possibility, but she can't help it when the thought crosses her mind.

Dickie grins when he sees Olivia in the car and both he and Lizzie run towards it, waving. "Hey Liv!" Dickie exclaims, climbing into the back seat.

"How come you're here?" Lizzie asks, sliding into the middle next to her brother as Kathleen walks out to the car after Elliot, carrying her backpack.

"I figured I'd tag along for pizza tonight. That okay with you guys?"

"Yeah!" Dickie answers, then blushes slightly. "I mean, sure, if you want to." Lizzie rolls her eyes and Olivia can't help but smile.

"Hey Olivia," Kathleen says, getting into the back behind the driver's seat, giving her a curious look. "You coming to dinner with us?"

Olivia nods, turning to face the house again, wondering if the eighteen-year-old knows what's going on. Elliot told Maureen the night before and she suddenly wonders if she called her sister to warn her. But when she looks towards the house, she sees Kathy on the front stoop, waving as they pull out of the driveway, which only serves to make her stomach tie up in even more knots, driving all other thoughts out of her mind.

"Are we going to Carlo's?" Dickie asks as Elliot heads back towards Manhattan.

"No, I figured we'd order in and eat at my apartment. Is that okay?"

Dickie and Lizzie both shrug, but Kathleen raises an eyebrow. "How come?"

"No reason," Elliot lies and Kathleen nods, suddenly crossing her arms in front of her and staring out the window in silence. While the twins talk and ask questions the entire way to Elliot's place, Kathleen doesn't say a word. Olivia can't help but notice that she keeps looking at her out of the corner of her eye, as if trying to figure out why she's really there.

- - -

Elliot tells them after pizza. Just simply opens his mouth and tells them. i Liv and I are dating. /i No preamble, no beating around the bush. He just says it, his hand holding Olivia's under the table, squeezing it reassuringly as he says the words.

"Does that mean you guys are going to move in together?" Lizzie asks, raising an eyebrow at her father.

"No," they both say at the same time, Olivia a little more assertively. Elliot cocks at eyebrow at her and smirks at the terrified look on her face. "We just started dating, Liz, we won't even be talking about that for a while. I just wanted to tell you so that you'd know Olivia will be around a lot more. Nothing will really change for you guys except that she'll spend time with us sometimes."

"Is she going to spend the night?" Kathleen asks suddenly, looking up from her untouched pizza. She asks the question just as Olivia starts to swallow a sip of her beer and she chokes, her eyes wide. Olivia coughs, catching her breath, and Kathleen turns to her father and shrugs. "Well?"

"We, uh...we haven't discussed that," Elliot says, his face visibly showing his discomfort. "Would it bother you if she did?"

"I guess not," Kathleen says, shrugging again. "I just wondered so I wasn't shocked if I wake up in the morning and she's in the kitchen. I just like to know what's going on."

Elliot nods and glances at Olivia for a split second before answering. "She might sometimes, but not all the time. Is that okay?" He turns to the twins and asks, "with you guys, too?"

Dickie shrugs. "I don't care."

"Does that mean you guys are having sex?" Lizzie asks, so matter-of-factly that she could almost be asking is the sky blue?

Elliot is left speechless at his youngest daughter's question and Olivia's face turns at least five shades of red. "Liz, that's uh, that's..." Elliot stumbles, trying to find the right answer to this question. "That's not really what this is about, okay?"

Lizzie raises an eyebrow and glances at Kathleen, who is shaking from laughter. "I think that means yes."

- - -

Later, Olivia enters the kitchen to find Kathleen standing at the sink, rinsing the plates from pizza before putting them into the dishwasher. She doesn't acknowledge Olivia's presence at first and the older woman allows this, simply beginning to help with the dishes in silence. After a few minutes, Olivia sighs, then turns to Kathleen. "Are you okay with this? With me and your dad?"

Kathleen shrugs, not answering for a moment. Finally she speaks. "How long have you two been dating? And be honest with me, please."

"A week," Olivia says firmly. "Kathleen, your father never would have cheated on your mother and I would never have gotten involved with him before they split up. I respect your mother and love you kids way too much for that."

Kathleen nods, again remaining silent for a moment before speaking. "Do you love him?"

Olivia decides to be honest and simply shrugs, not sure how exactly to explain her long and complicated answer. "I really don't know how I feel about him yet."

"Just please don't hurt him, okay?"

Olivia stares at her for a moment, completely speechless. "Why would I hurt him?"

"I'm not stupid, Olivia. I know you're not big on relationships. For as long as I've known you, I've never known you to have a serious boyfriend. I just don't want Dad to get hurt. If you love him, that's fine. It might take me a while to get used to this whole thing, but..." She shakes her head slightly, trying to figure out how to say it before speaking. "I was so angry with him after the divorce. I thought it was all his fault, you know? But I've talked to Mom and Maureen about it and I've... I'm not mad at him anymore. I just want both of them to be happy, and if he's happy with you, that's good enough for me. Just don't get scared and hurt him."

Olivia nods, looking down at the counter, trying to get her thoughts under control before responding. She'd never admit it out loud, but that hurts. She knows that it's partially true, that she does stupid things when her relationships get too serious, but hearing it from Elliot's daughter cuts deep.

"Liv, I didn't mean for that to sound so-"

"No, you're right," Olivia tells her, shaking her head. "I need to clarify something, okay?" Kathleen nods and Olivia pauses for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "I don't know if I'm in love with him. I think that's a feeling that comes with time and it hasn't happened yet. I know that I love him, though. Pure and simple, he's my partner, my best friend, and the only family I have. You're right, I don't usually do relationships and I don't like getting that close to people. There's something about your dad that makes me want to try, though. Just know that no matter what, I love him so much as a friend that I'd never be able to hurt him. And that love doesn't just go away, so whether I end up falling in love with him or not, you never have to worry about that. Okay?"

Kathleen nods, then offers her a small smile. "Can you hand me that plate?" she asks after a moment.

- - -

Olivia glances at her watch before pounding on his door once more. Seven-thirty. She's been calling his cell phone for the past hour, ever since she got home from work. She'd wanted to sneak out early but her captain hadn't exactly made that easy. She'd gotten back to the precinct after spending all day in court on the Martinez case to find out that Elliot was suspended from duty until he was cleared by a psychologist. Cragen hadn't been quick to explain what happened and Fin looked like hell, so she'd gotten the story about the case they picked up from John. Elliot had been sent home by the time she got back from court and he hadn't answered his phone when she tried calling him - all fifteen times.

She pounds on his door again, unwilling to use her key; the one he gave her a month ago, about six weeks into their relationship. She wants him to let her in; to admit that he needs her here. Finally she gives in and reaches into her pocket for her key ring, finding the right one and unlocking his door. The apartment is dark, but she can hear the TV. She locks the door behind her again and walks quietly towards the living room. He's there, on the couch, but he doesn't acknowledge her presence, instead taking another long pull from the beer bottle in his hand.

"Elliot?" she says softly, walking closer and gently laying her hand on his shoulder.

"Not tonight, Olivia," he says, half-pleading, his voice a mixture of anger and defeat. "I just want to be alone."

She's pissed. She's pissed at him for being like this after months of finally being on the right track. She's pissed at Victor Graves for what he did to those kids. She's pissed at Cragen for sending Elliot home when being alone is definitely not what he needs right now. But most of all, she's pissed that she cares this much. She's pissed that she can't just walk away from him, no matter how hard he's pushing her. So finally she explodes, her voice unsteady with emotion as she yells at him.

"Then you pick up the goddamn phone and you tell me that, Elliot! Either you're in this or you're not and right now I'm thinking that you're not! You can't just shut me out, Elliot. It doesn't work that way!" She pauses, glaring at the back of his head, as he still hasn't turned around to face her. "And by the way, 'I just want to be alone' is not an acceptable answer tonight. I'm not leaving. You can push all you want and tomorrow you can break up with me for all I care. But I'm not leaving." She pauses and looks at the coffee table, five empty beer bottles lined up next to old magazines and a book belonging to Dickie. She can tell by his voice that while he's not drunk, he's well on his way, and that pisses her off even more. "And you're done with this," she says, taking the half-empty bottle out of his hand and walking into the kitchen.

She empties it into the sink and then opens the refrigerator, taking out another six-pack of Guinness. She quietly empties each and every bottle into the sink, knowing that Elliot is watching her from the doorway.

"What are you doing?" he asks finally, walking towards her.

"You're not doing this, Elliot," she tells him, shaking her head slightly. "I don't care that you drink sometimes... hell, I do, too. And God knows I know how nice it is to get drunk and just ignore everything else that's going on in life. But you're not going to drink yourself into oblivion rather than talk. It's not going to happen, or else I'm out of here."

He faces her, finally, and suddenly has a flash of Olivia at ten, dumping out the contents of her mother's liquor collection into the sink in an attempt to get her to stop drinking. He looks down at the floor of his kitchen before reaching for her hand, squeezing it tightly in his as he pulls her closer to him, kissing her temple. "I'm so sorry," he whispers, his eyes closed.

"It's okay," she tells him, caressing his hand with her thumb as they stand there in silence. "Elliot, you can't shut me out like this. If we're going to work, you need to talk to me. Even if you won't talk to anyone else, you need to talk to me."

He kisses the top of her head and wraps his arms around her waist pulling her closer. "When did you become an advocate of talking about things?" he asks, his lips still against her hair. He doesn't say it sarcastically or bitterly like she expects; he's simply curious as to when this changed occurred.

She smiles against his T-shirt and shrugs. "When I realized that talking to you...and admitting that I needed help from you was a hell of a lot easier than being pissed off all the time."

He hugs her tighter in response to her words, then finally finds the courage to speak. "Did John tell you what happened?"

"Yeah. But I want to hear it from you," she tells him, tilting her head back just enough to look him in the eye. "Tell me what happened, Elliot."

He holds her against him for a moment, his lips pressed against her forehead, before he finally begins talking. "Right after you left for court, we got a call. Couple of unis in Alphabet City found a little girl walking down the street. It turned out to be Samantha Kirk, that eight-year-old that went missing from Long Island last week. She was dehydrated and exhausted and could barely talk, but she told them she'd escaped from this warehouse where her kidnapper had taken her. She said there are a bunch of other kids there and that he'd been abusing all of them. Molesting them. Forcing the older boys to rape the girls." His voice breaks as he talks about what had happened to them. "She said he video taped it. He hadn't been feeding them and he beat them when they tried to fight him. She got away during one of the rare moments when he left the warehouse. He forgot to tie her back up after..." he trails off, unable to say it out loud, despite the fact that they deal with it every day. "John went to the hospital to interview her and Fin and I went to look for the warehouse. She didn't know exactly where it was, but we didn't have any trouble finding it. When we got inside he'd already shot all of them. He must have realized Samantha escaped and that she'd tell the police, so he killed them. Thirteen of them, none of them older than fifteen. Then he hung himself from the rafters."

Olivia closes her eyes, fighting tears herself, and pulls him closer. She can't find the words to comfort him, so she simply holds him, knowing from his silence that he's crying.

"I hate this feeling," he says, his voice edged with emotion. "I feel like I can't do anything. That fucking bastard killed himself before we could get justice for those kids. He murdered them for absolutely no reason. If he was going to kill himself anyway, why didn't he just let them live?"

She runs her fingers through the hair on the back of his head and continues to hold him. "El, I-"

"I know," he says gently, shaking his head. "There isn't an answer. I just..." he shrugs, then kisses her temple again, feeling better, less angry, now that she's with him. "Don told me that I needed to be cleared by a shrink before I could work. I got pissed, to say the least. To make a long story short, I'm not allowed into the precinct until I talk to Huang."

"Elliot, I think you need to," she tells him gently. "I know you hate shrinks, but you need to talk about things. He's not that bad." She pauses, then adds with a smile, "you know, for a shrink."

Elliot smiles against her temple and nods. "I'll talk to him tomorrow," he promises.

"Let me ask you one question," Olivia says, shifting so she can kiss him gently on the lips. "Did you really throw a punch at Don?"

Elliot gives her an embarrassed smile and shrugs. "I was so pissed I really don't remember. But if he tried to get between me and the locker I was attempting to dent, it really wouldn't surprise me."

"Are you still that angry?" she asks, running her finger tips through the hair on the back of his head.

He shakes his head. "I'm still angry, but not as much. Not with you in my arms." He smiles slightly and tangles his fingers in her hair, grateful for her presence. "Thank you for coming over tonight. I know I said I wanted to be alone, but I need you."

"Come here," she says, moving out of his embrace and leading him towards one of the kitchen chairs. "Sit."

He raises an eyebrow, sitting down in the chair and looking up at her. "Why am I sitting?"

"For this," she says, straddling his lap and immediately catching his lips in a violently passionate kiss.

He moans against her lips, slipping his tongue inside her mouth to touch hers for a moment. She starts rocking her hips against his, his fingers working the button on her jeans. She helps him, then reaches for his belt buckle, loosening it. She moves off of his lap just enough that she can push her jeans and panties off and so he can push his pants and boxers low on his hips. She straddles him again, his erection pressed against her stomach as she continues to kiss him, taking him in one hand, causing him to groan loudly in her ear.

"Jesus, Olivia..."

"Shhh," she tells him and reaches for her purse on the counter, finding a condom and slipping it on him before shifting just enough so he can push inside of her. She grinds against him, her forehead pressed to his, his hands on her hips, guiding her every move as she reminds him what life is supposed to be about - friendship, love, and pleasure; not the dark side of it they see every day.

- - -

In the middle of the night, Elliot rolls over in bed, expecting to brush up against her, to feel her legs tangled in his in the navy blue sheets of her bed. Instead, he reaches for her and finds nothing; just the wrinkled sheets, still warm from her body. He opens his eyes slowly, looking around the room, trying to figure out where she is. He catches sight of the clock - 3:57am looks back at him in neon red digits and he rolls back onto his stomach, trying to go back to sleep, assuming she's just in the bathroom or getting a glass of water. He's just about to fall back asleep when he hears a loud gasp from the living room, jolting him awake once more. He jumps up and rushes to the door, reaching for Olivia's gun where she left it on the dresser the night before. It isn't until he's in the doorway that he notices the lights from the TV or the sound of voices.

"Liv?" he asks quietly, tentatively.

Suddenly the DVD pauses and he laughs, noticing her in the darkness. She sits on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her, half-hiding her face behind it. "Did I wake you?" she asks, then raises an eyebrow at him when she notices his amusement.

"No," he says, still laughing. "I woke up and then I heard a noise and I thought..." he shrugs, stepping back into the bedroom with one foot to set the gun back on her dresser. "Why are you up?"

"Couldn't sleep," she shrugs. "I'm watching The X-Files instead. You must have heard me gasp. It still amazes me that with our job, this show can still scare the shit out of me," she admits.

"I can't believe that The X-Files scares you. You're a cop, Olivia," he tells her, fighting one of his trademark smirks.

She rolls her eyes. "Gee, thanks for that wonderful observation. I had no idea I was a cop," she says sarcastically, making him smile. "This is completely different. Sure I'm not scared of the stuff we deal with everyday...but when was the last time we had aliens after us, or were investigating vampire attacks? I know it sounds stupid, but it really does scare me." She shrugs, then adds, "I guess I find comfort in the fact that something other than our job can still make me want to sleep with the lights on. Proves I'm not as jaded as I thought." She yawns and glances at the watch on his wrist, speaking before he can respond to her admission. "What time is it?"

"Four," he says. "We've got to be in Queens at ten. Kathleen called me six times last night to make sure we're both coming. I think she's really freaked out about college. Besides, she wants you to show her all of the cool places to meet guys on Sienna's campus."

Olivia grins. "I bet you're thrilled about that idea." Olivia pulls her knees up to her chest and looks back at the TV. "This episode is so incredibly scary."

"I've actually never seen The X-Files before," he tells her, leaning against the doorway.

She looks rather shocked, more surprised that she doesn't know something about him after eight years as partners and three months in a relationship than by the fact that he's never seen her favorite show. "Do you want to come watch it with me?" she asks. "This episode's almost over. I'll even let you watch my favorite one."

He shrugs, unable to resist her when she has that smile on her face. "Sure. I'm just going to use the bathroom real quick."

She nods and presses play again, watching the last few minutes of the episode before he returns to the living room, sitting down on the couch next to her. "Aren't you cold?" she asks, noticing that he's only wearing a pair of thin cotton boxer shorts.

"It's August, Olivia. It's hot out."

"I'm freezing," she says, wrapping the blanket around her more and shivering slightly as the credits start to roll on screen.

"Come here," he says, laying back against the couch. She lays down in front of him, warming quickly when he wraps his arms around her, kissing the back of her neck. "So what's this episode you're going to make me watch?"

"It's my favorite," she repeats. "It's not scary. Actually, it's rather funny, although it does feature a town full of vampires and a few rather gruesome autopsy scenes."

"This is the one with the two FBI agents right? What are their names? Moldy and Scary?"

"Mulder and Scully," she corrects, clearly amused. "Mulder's the guy, Scully's the woman. Mulder believes in all of the paranormal stuff like aliens and spirits and vampires. Scully's more of a scientist and always tries to explain everything with something she learned in Medical School. You'll see those differences a lot in this episode."

"Does she give him looks like Fin gives to John all the time?" Elliot asks, smirking.

"Yeah, but Scully's much better looking. Now, shhh! The episode's about to start," she tells him, moving closer to him, pulling his arms tighter around her to keep warm. She can feel every reaction he has to the episode, as much as he wants to hide it; when he chuckles at the jokes as well as when his body tenses at the scary parts. Olivia laughs when Elliot suddenly startles after fighting the natural instinct to at every other moment featuring a vampire coming out of nowhere. "Scared?"

"Not in the least," Elliot assures her, while unconsciously pulling her closer. She laughs and turns slightly to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not scared! I just wasn't expecting that!"

She rolls her eyes and turns back to the TV. "Whatever, Elliot."

Wanting revenge, Elliot waits for exactly the perfect moment, knowing that there has to be at least one more scary scene in the episode. He sees his opportunity and he quickly but gently moves his mouth to her neck, laughing loudly when she jumps, nearly off the couch, and screams. "You're not scared, are you?" he asks, grinning.

She turns and punches him in the arm, glaring at him, but unable to hide the amusement in her eyes. "I cannot believe you just did that!" she exclaims, trying not to laugh. "That scared me half to death, Elliot!"

"That was kind of the point," Elliot tells her, still trying to stop laughing enough so that he can breath. He kisses her neck again, in exactly the same spot, and slowly snakes his hand under her T-shirt. "I'll make it up to you," he promises her, his tongue tracing patterns on the skin just below her ear.

With neither of them watching the show anymore, Olivia relaxes into his embrace, allowing him to caress and kiss at his own pace. Lost in thought; in what he's doing, she closes her eyes and thinks, God I love this man.

Suddenly his hand stops moving along her body and his mouth lifts from her neck. "Liv?" he asks, a little unsure, and she tenses, suddenly realizing she just spoke out loud.

She hesitates and then reaches for his hand, squeezing it tightly, realizing that she just needs to say it, as scared as she is right now. "I love you. You don't have to say it back, but..." she pauses, then turns onto her other side to face him. "I love you," she tells him again.

"I know I don't i have to /i say it back," he says, smirking, making her wait. He shifts slightly so she's on her back, his body lying partially on top of hers. "But I do." He rests his forehead against hers and whispers the words against her lips. "I love you, too," he tells her, gently parting her lips with his tongue. He breaks the kiss before it can deepen and looks right into her eyes, the intimacy of it causing her heart to race even more than his touch. "I've known, I just..."

"Me, too," she tells him, entwining their fingers. She gently rubs her nose against his and squeezes his hands in hers before speaking again. "I think it's time we tell Don. I don't want to hide this anymore."

He smiles before kissing her again. "Okay."

TBC...soon (I hope)