Chapter Three

Forget Me Not

Thanks to nicole812us, Tommys my 21, BrittanyLS, TV Angel 711, Beautifully Tragic-Tragically Beautiful, romeoharvey, Lunar Kitty Kat, nickysbabygirl, Nix707, sportscenter, Hkitty9013, onetreefan, Little People, gigletrig, sergeant happy bunny, ChrisMeloniismysexymanbeast52, LivNel4ever, and obsessedwithstabler for their reviews! Sorry this is coming out so late!

Disclaimer: I own nothing that pertains this show or this show itself. It belongs to Dick Wolf. I'm so jealous.

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She entered the precinct with a confident bounce in her step. Something about coming back to her life here was a miracle in itself. She tried so hard to solve the case and come home. Now that she was home, she wasn't sure how she fitted into this life anymore. She forced herself not to think on it. Heads turned, admiring her.

She had allowed her hair to get longer while she was gone, pulling it up now into a high ponytail. She had always been pretty, but now that she had an air of confidence around her, a woman who knew herself and had embraced every obstacle in her life and thrived on each situation, she was even more attention grabbing than before.

"OLIVIA!" Came a yell.

She felt two explosions on her back. Regardless of the situation, Munch and Fin were glad to see her.

She returned their hugs with beaming smile.

"I should have brought cupcakes." Munch said.

Fin rolled his eyes. "He'll eat them all before he even gets here." He mumbled.

Olivia laughed. "Is Cragen in his office?"

Fin nodded.

Olivia bid them a quick farewell and knocked on her captain's office.

"Come in." A tired reply came from the door.

She opened the door and stopped, allowing him to stare at her, up and down, checking her body for any visible wounds.

"I'm in one piece." She said with a smile.

"I can see that." He replied with a laugh. "How was working for the Feds?"

She made a face as her answer.

"That bad?" He asked her.

She smiled. "Do you need another detective?" she asked.

He returned a smile. "If you're the detective in question, always." He answered.

"When I can I start?"

The phone rang and Cragen held up a finger as he answered. A couple nods as Olivia wandered around his office, glancing at the little forget me nots hanging on the walls, feeling comforted at the familiarity.

"Hey Liv?"

"Yeah?" she asked turning.

"Can you start now?"

She smiled. "Hell yes." She replied.

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Alex and Casey strode into the DA's office chatting quietly, heels clicking on the worn out floor.

Heads turned as they came in. Alex was back. She was supposed to be dead. They were watching a living corpse reenter their lives. At least for some of the people in the office. Others had known about her situation, but had never tried to figure out where was or wonder if she would ever come home.

"Alex."

"Hey Jim. What's up?"

"Branch wants to talk to you." he said. "Glad to have you back.

She gave him a smile and gave Casey a pat on the back and slipped into Branch's office.

"You wanted to see me."

"It's nice to see you again." Branch said.

"Likewise. I've been gone for a while."

"Yes you have."

"Is that all you have to tell me?" Alex asked. "I was just coming in to see if I could start working here again."

"I'll do you one better. My term as DA is ending this year. I'm not running again."

Alex saw where this was going. "You're asking me to run?"

"Yes I am. Until then you can work for me as an ADA, but I want you to run for my position."

"I'm not really a politician." She said softly.

"That part's only temporary. I just feel like you'll be able to handle this office better than some of the hotshot younger DA's that think they know everything." Branch replied.

"What about Casey?" Alex asked.

"I considered her, but her age is what's going to limit votes and she's happy where she is. She's good, but the ADA's are going to respond better to you rather than someone's who's work fewer cases than they have even if they have an extremely high win/lose ratio."

She nodded. "All right. I'll see what I can do." She said softly.

"Thanks Alex." He said. "And it's good to have you back."

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Olivia was unpacking a box of the basic necessity she needed to do her job. A computer wasn't set up yet, but she had a laptop, which she pulled out and set it on her desk, not her old one, but the one by the window closest to Cragen's office. A drawer was filled with clips, rubber bands, and some extra pens.

A sound of laughter from the doorway filled her ears. She knew who it was without turning. His laugh was always loud and full. It fit him. She felt a smile fill her face without being invited.

He stopped in the doorway and saw her back. Despite the longer hair and the ponytail, he knew it was her. The way she carried herself, the way she wore even the simplest clothes, it was all Olivia and he knew her by heart.

"Liv..." He said softly.

She turned to cast her hazel green orbs upon him. "Elliot." She said softly.

Overcome with the emotion of that one word, he moved away from Dani's side and enveloped Olivia into his arms.

"Olivia," He whispered.

He felt a degree of emotion that scared him. Missing her had been killing him. He had used every other way he knew how to numb that pain and drive her from his mind, but now that she was standing before him, her warm body in his arms, those emotions returned heavy and full force.

He imagined what it would have been like if Olivia hadn't left, if he had been brave enough to admit to her how he felt about her. Would she have been in his arms again? Would she have been the one that he would be lying next to at night? He glanced at Dani out of the corner of his eye and then buried his face back into Olivia's golden brown hair.

"Hey." She murmured back in his ear. "How have you been?" she asked as she pulled away.

"Okay. How about you? Like working alone?" He asked.

"Hardly." She replied.

Dani cleared her throat and moved past Elliot to come face to face with Olivia. Dislike was obviously written on her face.

"Olivia Benson." Olivia said with a small smile, extending a hand.

Dani glance at the offered hand and ignored it. "Dani Beck."

Olivia ignored the impolite response and focused her attention back on her cases. She had only been back for an hour and already she had cases piled on her desk.

"Rape and murder. Central park." Olivia said, moving past them to pin a picture of the crime scene onto the bulletin board.

"Second one like it this month." Dani said. "You sure you still got the stomach for this kind of crime?"

Olivia glanced at the blonde, almost like she was sizing her up. Curly blonde hair that was pulled tightly in a braid that was falling apart. Worn jeans and sneakers with a simple shirt.

"I think I've got more than enough stomach after where I've been." Olivia replied slowly. "Just don't make another mistake with bagging the evidence."

Casey had told her all about Dani's mistake with a vital piece of evidence. She hadn't worn gloves and the defense attorney had blown that piece of information right up to the moon when Casey brought the case to trial.

"I'm not the one that caused a boy's death because I was stupid enough to get close enough to be stabbed." Dani hissed in reply.

Olivia felt anger, but only for a moment. There was a time where she would have punched Dani right in the face for a comment like that, but she had learned and grown. Self control had been vital to her job and she now had iron control on her life and reactions.

She took the higher road, the one that Dani obviously had no interest in even driving by.

"I did what I had to do." She said. "It doesn't always work out the right way."

Before Dani could interject another nasty comment, Elliot interrupted the back and forth lashing.

"Okay anyway, the victim is still in the hospital." He said.

"I'll attend the autopsy." Olivia volunteered

Dani glanced at her and opened her mouth, but Elliot cut her off.

"Actually, Liv I was hoping you could come to the scene with me." Elliot said. "The case is extremely similar to a case we had a few years ago."

"Seriously?" Olivia asked. She had yet to look completely through the file, having only the gotten the case five minutes ago. She looked now. The scene was eerily familiar.

"Oh man." She said soflty. "Do we have an ID on the victim?"

A familiar face entered the precinct. "Yeah."

"Oh my God." Olivia breathed. "Special Agent Donovan. You're supposed to be dead."

He laughed at her reaction. "Well I'm still breathing." He replied. "And I have the ID of your vic."

Olivia took the file that he handed to her and flipped through it. "She's a Fed?"

"Yeah." Tim answered. "Special Agent Khandi Jones."

Elliot took the file from Olivia and then sat down on the desk right beside her. "She was working undercover?"

"Yeah, drugs." He said.

"Can't get out of the business can you?" Olivia teased.

He laughed and then asked, "Hey is Alex back too? I heard that she was back in New York."

Elliot and Olivia exchanged a quick glance at each other, conversing without words. One that wasn't lost on Dani who begun to envy the closeness and connection that Olivia and Elliot had. She had never lasted long enough in any squad to build a strong relationship with any of her partners.

Olivia answered Tim's question. "She's at the DA's office."

"Thanks." He said.

"Hey Tim?" Elliot called.

He turned.

"Be gentle with her." He said, inferring more than he should have, but hitting the target.

Tim smiled and walked out.

Dani fidgeted. "Who's he?"

"Someone we worked with on a case a long time ago." Elliot answered. "Liv, crime scene?"

"Yeah." Olivia said, grabbing her coat.

Fin and Munch were also grabbing their coats. "We'll go to Melinda's."

Dani beat them to the door, calling. "No I'll go."

Fin and Munch shrugged. "We'll go through the old case and find more connections and then listen through the 911 call." Fin said.

Elliot nodded. "We'll call you if we have anything."

"Likewise." Munch replied.

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"What's your read on her?" Elliot asked, as they drove toward Central Park.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked, answering his question with a question of her own.

"As a cop."

She threw him a sideways glance. "You mean as a girlfriend."

"Whatever gave you that impression?" He asked.

"Uh, her jealously, and the gossip flying around the precinct." She said.

"Ok fine, you got me. What do you think?" he asked.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "You want the truth or you want me to sugar coat it?"

"Hit me with the hard facts." He replied.

"She's a bit territorial about the wrong territory." She said. "Take my advice as a friend, Elliot, and not the wrong way. She's bad news."

"I think I can decide what kind of girl is right for me." Elliot said with a touch of annoyance.

Olivia threw her hands up in the air. "Sure whatever. I'm just letting you know."

She placed a gentle hand on his arm. "As a friend." She said softly.

"Thanks for looking out for me." Elliot said softly.

She gave him a smile with a touch of affection that went straight to his heart. "Always." She whispered.

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I don't know how I did that. I told him what I thought and even though he was annoyed I know he'll consider my words. He pretends he minds me caring, but I know he doesn't. We have a connection, one that I'm positive that Dani will never even begin to break. I know it bothers her. It would bother me too if it had been Elliot and Dani.

I know I should care more about this whole situation, but I don't. It's strange. I'm actually content. I know he and Dani won't last. How I know that, I don't know, but he'll come back to being Elliot. He hasn't changed.

I watch him as we drive to the crime scene and when we arrive and step out, I feel this strange sense of familiarity once again. This is what we do. This is where we're both at home.

We exchange another glance. Despite what's going on in our personal lives, we're always gonna be close. That will never change, but that doesn't stop me, stop me from wanting to be the one coddled and loved in his arms or the one to look into his blue eyes and see a degree of love that would frighten and enthrall me. That doesn't stop me from wanting him.

Dani's lucky. She has him, even for a moment. She's lucky. I wish I could be the object of his affections, even for a few seconds. That would be enough to satisfy me for the rest of my life.

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Author's Note:

Hey people! I'm sorry this has taken me so long to update. I was running out of ideas because there was a huge lack of Olivia in a bunch of these SVU eppys. But after last week's eppy I couldn't help but want to write this fic again. I love that show. I hope you like this chapter and it'll get more exciting later. I'm just trying to build the exposition. Alex and Olivia are back. Alex is running for head DA. Tim likes Alex. Elliot and Olivia still have their connection.