A/N: Hope you all like it. Thanks to all the people that reviewed, you guys are great. And a big thanks to my beta Essy.

Chapter 2

Things would never be the same, Elliot knew. He sat looking at her face, so pale, so fragile, her body covered by the thin white hospital sheet. He knew that if Olivia had been able to hear his thoughts he would have been a goner in less then two minutes. I'm anything but fragile and I don't need a knight in shinning armor, Stabler, so just back off, he mimicked her in his head. If only she would take help; if only she would let him help, he corrected. Sometimes she didn't know when enough was enough; that's when he had to step in, and she never liked him for it.

They had been fighting a lot more lately, so much so that she went to Computer Crimes for a bit. It had been tough not working with her, but he knew she was still around. Working without her was a problem but if she died, she would take him with her.

Elliot couldn't be there, not right now, not with these thoughts dashing through his head. He looked at her one more time, turned, and sprinted from the room.

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"Elliot? What are you doing here?" Cragen asked when Elliot walked into the squad room.

It didn't seem right, Elliot thought, walking in without her by his side or at her desk working on something.

"I just can't do nothing any more. Sitting there and not being able to help is driving menuts."

"You'll need a new partner for now," Cragen informed him.

Elliot looked pained and wary. "That's okay, Captain. Maybe I could just work with either Munch or Fin." Even before Elliot had finished talking, Cragen gave him a look that clearly said 'I-don't-think-so'.

As his captain had left, Elliot turned back to his desk. There were pictures all over his desk, pictures of his children and Kathy. Sitting at the edge of his desk, right by the computer, was a picture of him and Olivia at a Christmas party a few years ago. His gut clenched strongly and he had a difficult time admitting why.

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When Elliot walked into Olivia's hospital room a few hours later, he saw Maureen sitting beside her bed with a magazine in her hands.

"Maureen?" His oldest daughter looked up at him.

"Hi, Daddy," she replied, smiling at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well," she started and looked back at her magazine, then back at Elliot. "I got done with classes about an hour ago and came to see how she was doing."

Elliot looked between Maureen and Olivia, not sure what to do. His face must have shown what he was feeling because Maureen started to worry herself.

"Daddy, are you okay?"

"Yeah - yeah I'm all right, sweetheart."

"No you're not. You can tell me what's wrong." She was observant - he had made her that way.

Elliot looked at Olivia's face, back at Maureen and then at Olivia again.

"I know that, Maureen, I just don't know where to start."

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He was working on the paperwork for the Redview case when a woman walked into the squad room asking to speak to Captain Cragen.

"I'm the captain. Is there something I can help you with?"

The woman looked around the room, noting there were no empty desks. Her face held that confused look that Elliot had seen often.

"I was told the 1-6 needed a detective." And with that sentence Elliot sucked in a breath sharply, looking towards his captain.

"Captain?" Elliot questioned quickly. Cragen didn't look at Elliot but he knew what Cragen was thinking: What was I supposed to do?

Not pair me up with someone else, Elliot thought, taking in the woman standing next to Fin's desk. Her hair was blond, pulled back into a braid; her face gave way to her experience and it seemed like she had a rough past.

"Dani Beck." The woman replied, holding out her hand. Cragen took it.

"I was noticing, though, that I don't have a desk."

"Detective Benson is in a coma right now. She didn't have time to clean out her desk," Elliot countered.

Munch looked at Dani and then at Elliot. "Now, now, Stabler, play nice."

His anger was getting the best of him. Elliot knew he needed to get out of there before he did something ridiculous. He pushed his chair back and left the room.

"We're family here, Detective Beck. This has been hard on all of us." Munch informed her, not unkindly.

Munch knew where Elliot was headed and met him up there. "It's hard on all of us, Elliot."

"But you don't…" he cut himself off before he uncovered his secret.

"What? Love her?"

Elliot's head turned quickly towards Munch. Am I that transparent? He never thought he was.

Munch chuckled. "Come on, now you have to greet her."

"I don't want to work with her," Elliot mumbled to himself.

"You sound like you're five."

"Maybe if I wish hard enough, I'll get what I want…" he trailed off, then in a quieter voice said, "Olivia back and Beck gone."

"Yeah, Elliot, maybe," Munch told him while they walked back into the squad room.