A/N: For any non-Brits, to 'flog a dead horse' means 'to do something without a hope of succeeding'. Don't worry, you'll see why I included this later on.

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Olivia sat staring, unseeing at the television as she swirled the wine round her glass. It goaded her, dared her to take a sip. One little sip couldn't hurt, right? It might take a bit of your pain away her mind taunted, go on just one sip.

A knock on the door startled her and she breathed a sigh as she placed the glass down onto the coffee table. She wasn't her mother, she couldn't drown her sorrows with alcohol. The door swung open to reveal her partner.

"Hey, Elliot," she said with a hint of surprise and... a hint of reticence? "What are you doing here? I thought you would be at the hospital with Kathy?"

Elliot shrugged non-committally.

"I will be later but I thought I'd swing by here first, check up on my partner!" He said brightly, "How are you feeling, Liv? You've had one hell of a day, saving my ass on more than one count. I didn't get much of a chance to talk to you earlier."

"I'm fine," she said but there was something about the way she said it that made Elliot doubt the sincerety of her words. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure," he all-too eagerly aquiesced, sliding into her apartment and following her into the kitchen. "You should rest, what would you like to drink?" He offered her the contents of her own cupboards.

"You're the guest here, there seems to be something wrong about this!" She stated in jest but her smile faltered as she realised her unfortunate choice of words. Elliot paused mid-reach for the coffee and turned to stare at her, looking somewhat nervous. Olivia quickly attempted to make light of her comment, "on the other hand, I guess you do own me a drink so I'll have a green tea, please." He set to the task of filling the kettle and obtaining two mugs from her mug tree on the counter while she took a seat and watched him move about her kitchen as though it were his own.

"I went to see Cragen before." Elliot said conversationally.

"About the driver?" Olivia queried tentatively. With the events since the crash she hadn't had time to think about any possible criminal proceedings.

Elliot gripped the mug tightly. Just the thought of what that bastard could have done to his life today... he took a moment to calm down, he was getting side-tracked and at this moment that was a very bad idea.

"No, Casey reckons we've got enough to put him away for a very long time. I just wanted to keep him apprised of my situation."

Olivia's heart rate shot up.

"Oh?"

Elliot handed her a steaming mug, which she held in her hands as though it was the only thing keeping her alive at that moment, and took a seat opposite her at the table.

"Kathy and I have decided to remain divorced." He watched as Olivia processed his words, her expression going from agreement to shock to confusion as her mind worked.

"But... but I thought you were still married?"

"We both signed the divorce papers. Even when we got back together we hadn't quite gotten around to making it official. I guess it was a sign. Anyway, we decided that nothing has really changed between us, I'm not going to stop being who I am and Kathy wasn't willing to settle for anything less than the husband she deserves."

To say that Olivia had been blind-sided was an understatement. She frowned and opened her mouth and closed it again, obviously not knowing exactly what to say.

"But what about-"

"Elliot? I still plan on being around for everything, at least as much as I was for my other kids if not a little bit more, I just won't be living with Kathy and the kids anymore, that's all."

Olivia didn't know what to say so she settled for the obvious.

"I'm sorry, El. I know you were hoping it would work out this time."

Elliot's eyes went wide. Had he really made her think that? The only reason he had gone back to Kathy was because of the baby. As his Irish Grandpa had often told him, it was no use flogging a dead horse; their marriage had had its fate sealed long before their single night of weakness.

"We got back together for Elliot's sake. We were stupid to think it could've worked, I don't think either of us truly believed it would. We'd drifted too far apart. Besides, we both had our reasons to move on."

This surprised Olivia, she had always assumed that their only obstacle had been Elliot's commitment to his job.

"Was there... another person involved?"

"For Kathy's part, perhaps. She deserves someone to be everything she needs in a husband, not the life of a cop's wife."

Olivia swallowed hard and glanced down, unable to watch his expression as she dared as her burning question.

"And yours?"

Elliot paused and then reached across the table to grip her hand, making her look at him.

"There's... the promise of someone else, in the indefinite future. Maybe."

She stared in disbelief. He couldn't have just said what she thought he had, could he? As Elliot let go of her hand, he stood up and placed his half-empty mug into the sink.

"It's funny, when I spoke to Cragen earlier he said the strangest thing to me."

Olivia stood too and followed Elliot out to the door.

"Yeah?"

"That thing he said yesterday about me screwing something up? Turns out, he wasn't talking about my family!" He shrugged but his grin gave him away.

Olivia raised an eyebrow cheekily, suddenly gaining confidence.

"Well... that's certainly interesting."

"Yeah, I thought so too," he beamed as he opened the door, "Goodnight, Liv. Try to get some sleep." He gave her a melodramatic once-over. "God knows, you could do with your beauty sleep tonight!"

Olivia gasped in mock indignation as she swatted his arm playfully and gently shoved him into the hallway.

"I'll remember that the next time you send me for coffee and doughnuts!" She called after him as he headed off down the hallway, waving a hand as her as if to playfully dismiss her comment. She closed the door and leant back against it, suddenly feeling as though all of her energy had been drained. Pushing herself off the door with her arms and heading towards her bedroom shaking her head, she felt as though a huge cloud had been lifted. Some days just didn't work out like you expected them too. And sometimes that was a very good thing indeed!