Elliot went behind Olivia's back to get a restraining order put on White for Olivia's protection and when she found out she didn't argue. It wasn't that she was glad he had done it, only that she was grateful he cared enough to make sure she was safe. It made her feel wanted and loved, and since loosing her mother years before, she had no one else but her co-workers, they were her family. Elliot really was the only man in her life.

As the day drew to a close, another perp, another case, another ending to the misery that life dealt out, Elliot made an offer to Olivia that she instantly declined. "You can stay at my place tonight," he said casually. "I spoke to Kathy, she's made up a place in the loungeroom, she's cooking dinner too."

"Elliot…" she sighed. "I never asked you to do that?"

"I know," he nodded. "I think you need people around you right now,."

"No I don't," she snapped. "And you can tell Kathy thanks but no thanks. I am perfectly capable of looking out for myself. Why do you always try to fix my problems?"

"I'm your partner-"

"Don't even go there," she stood from the desk and looked over at him sitting across from her. "You can't use that line every time you make a choice for me. You told me yourself, not to let him get to me."

"That was before he called you in the middle of the night," he argued. "You don't have anyone there to protect you, Liv."

"I have me. I don't need you to hold my hand. I need you to let me run MY life, MY way, I never tell you what to do in your marriage or how you should deal with one of your kids. You have a newborn to worry about… go home and deal with that."

"Kathy doesn't mind you staying over," he said as if that were the issue. "The house is already full. It's not a big deal."

"I mind, and it's a big deal," she barked, her tone of voice raising higher with each word. She was afraid to go home, but she was always afraid that if she allowed Elliot to look after her when she was scared then she would never be able to deal with anything alone. White wanted control, and she was deathly determined not to give it to him without a fight. "God, Elliot, stop trying to control what happens to me. If White wants to get me, he will get me, and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. I'm NOT afraid of him," she wasn't really, only afraid of what he was capable of, Olivia had seen the remained of his victims when he was done with them – it wasn't pretty.

"Fine," he shrugged calmly. "I'll drive you home."

"I'll take a cab," she grabbed her jacket and easily swung it over her shoulders and slid her arms through with one clean swift. Like a pro. Without waiting to debate it with him, she took the keys from the draw and walked out of the precinct.

True to her word, she ignored the pleading of her partner to allow him to drive her safely home, and when she climbed into the cab and ordered the taxi to her apartment, he looked extremely unhappy as the cab pulled off the curb and onto the traffic. She'd deal with his mood tomorrow, all she wanted to do now was prove to herself that she was brave enough to deal with Richard White on her own. once he knew she was afraid of him, he'd know he had control and she was a goner – Olivia had no intention of giving him that satisfaction.

But what Olivia found when the cab pulled up to her apartment, was the dark-blue Sedan parked out the front, Elliot had followed her home. She paid the taxi driver and stormed up the front steps ignoring him altogether. But he followed her, intent on discussing her safety as if she were a small child and not a woman of thirty-nine.

"You can be as pissed as you want," he didn't sound like he cared what her attitude towards him was. "I have to make sure you were okay." Olivia didn't respond. "What if he was waiting for you on the front step with a shot gun," he reasoned.

Olivia turned on him, whirling around to face him front on. "Then he would have shot me and I'd be dead," she said with sarcasm. "I've been trained to protect myself, stop treating me like a child, Elliot."

"When you hear the word PARTNER, what springs to your mind?" he challenged.

"Trust," she answered without hesitation. "And right now, I don't trust you."

"Your right, that word springs to my mind too, so when my partner is in trouble, I have to know she can trust me to protect her… alright?"

Olivia couldn't argue that point. It was only her pride that had her back up. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, she was just angry and scared and she was taking out on the person she cared about most – he was all she had now, besides, a jailbird brother she never saw. "Go home, Elliot," she said icily.

Elliot nodded and got back into the Sedan as she entered the house and went inside.