Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. The use of the characters, settings, and plotlines is not malicious. This is a work of fiction.

"I'm fine," Olivia snapped, moving away from her captain and closer to her partner. She didn't notice him put his arm around her. She held up a hand and made a disgusted face when her captain tried to hand her a tall green and white cup. "And I don't want any more coffee, I'm shaking enough as it is."

Cragen sighed, his hot breath causing a cloud of white in the air. "Can you remember anything else?" he asked, taking a sip of the coffee in his hand, not wanting it to go to waste. "Either of you?"

Elliot shook his head. "We were stopped at the red light, I saw the headlights, I knew the car was heading for us...I just...I jumped on top of Liv and we held on until the car stopped spinning."

Olivia folded her arms and looked at Cragen. "We told you, three times," she said. "There are witnesses, the traffic camera caught the whole thing, so can we please get back to..."

Cragen interrupted her. "Fin and Munch went to the school. Until we figure out who tried to mow you down, you're out of the field. Starting now."

"What?" Olivia snapped, moving away from Elliot. "That's not...this isn't the first time someone tried to..."

"Exactly," Cragen retorted. He pointed at her firmly. "The two of you...get a ride back with Grecco in a black and white, get back to the house, and stay in the squad room." He shot the two detectives meaningful looks, took another sip of his coffee, and walked away, hoping someone had answers for him.

Olivia shook her head, biting her lip. She turned to complain to Elliot, but froze when she saw him talking to a pretty redhead. She watched him laugh and pull a thick envelope out of his pocket, handing it to her with a grin. Her blood ran cold when she watched the redhead bat her eyelashes and rest a hand on his shoulder before turning and walking away. She hadn't even acknowledged Olivia.

Elliot turned his head, then, and his eyes focused on his partner's. He smiled and beckoned her over to him with a still-shaking hand. He chuckled when he saw the look of annoyance on her face. "If looks could kill," he teased, nudging her with his elbow when she sat beside him, on the silver fender of a squad car. "Casey...she, uh, she's doing me a favor."

"Yeah, I'll bet," she said, trying to smile but knowing it came off as more of a challenging smirk. She rolled her eyes at herself.

"Easy," he laughed. "Not like that." He sighed, still looking at her, and he reached out his trembling fingers to brush a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You sure you're okay?"

He felt her slap him in the chest and watched as she jutted her chin toward the uniformed officer with whom they were supposed to ride back to the station. He moved with her as she rose to get into the other car.

"Fine," she said, acknowledging his question. "Just fucking fine."

He chuckled as he opened the back door to the car for her. He let her slide in and then scooted in next to her. "I know Casey isn't your favorite person right now..."

"Ever," she retorted.

He laughed again, watching her nostrils flare a bit. He leaned closer to her, brushed her hair aside, and whispered, right in her ear, "She's bringing signed divorce papers to the courthouse for me." He leaned back, taking in the befuddled expression on her face. He licked his lips, pridefully accepting the effect he had on her. "I was gonna drop them off on the way back from Horace Mann, but...after the crash, I knew we'd never get there...I called her, and she came to get them, so..."

"Why?" She whipped her head to her right to look at him. "Why do you think she hauled her ass all the way out to Central Park, just to pick up papers that, in all honesty, could have waited until tomorrow to..."

"You think Casey has the hots for me?" he asked her, poking his tongue into the side of his cheek.

"Think? No," she scoffed, bitterly chuckling as she looked away from him. "I know she does. So do you."

"Liv," he said, clearing his throat and moving closer to her, "You know it doesn't matter, right?" He watched her shoulders rose and fall and he knew her resolve was fading. "You know...there's only one person I'm...well, uh, I just...I don't care about what Novak thinks or wants or..." he stopped, seeing that she wasn't turning to look at him. He exhaled and ran a hand down his face, realizing he sucked at this.

His breath hitched when he saw her head start to turn, and he caught a bit of that gleam in her eyes that he'd been seeing all morning. He offered her a small smile. "There she is," he whispered, winking.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who?"

He ignored her questions as she laughed again. "You know. Right? I mean...you...you have to know." He stiffened when she showed no sign of understanding. "C'mon," he said, making a face that displayed frustration and fear.. "Liv, you...you know!" He was panicking now, his heart thumping against his rib-cage.

She stared at him a moment longer, and then her sneaky smile grew. "Yeah," she said, her eyes closing and opening slowly. "I know."

"Fucking hell," he breathed, sighing harshly and clutching his chest. "Jesus. Don't fucking do that to me."

"I couldn't resist," she laughed, "You deserved it for using Casey's little crush on you to your advantage. You knew she'd..."

"Oh, please," he interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "You think I don't know that you use...whoa!"

"Hey!" Olivia shouted at Officer Grecco, who'd stopped short. "One crash is enough, today!"

"Sorry, Detectives," the cop said, visibly shaken. "I hit...I think I hit something." He turned to look over his seat at them. "There was nothing there, I swear, I didn't see anything! I just felt...underneath the car..."

"Okay, okay," Elliot said, huffing as he got out of the car. "We're here, anyway." He waved a hand over his shoulder, gesturing to the precinct behind him. He knelt down and looked under the car, squinting. "There isn't anything under...oh, wait, hold on." He reached a hand under the wheel. "What the hell is..."

"Elliot!" Her voice hit his ears at the same time her arms wrapped around his waist. She pulled him back, dragging him over the gravelly road, just before the car sped off, screeching down the block.

"Shit!" he gasped, leaping to his feet. He turned to her. "How did you know..." He stared at her as she shook her head, panting, puffs of her hot breath visible. He noticed the color had drained from her face, her hands were shaking as they skimmed over his arms and chest, checking for injury for the second time in less than five hours. "I'm okay," he whispered, breathing as heavily as she was. He lifted a hand to her cheek and his thumb brushed away the beginnings, and ending, of tears. "I'm okay."

She nodded, but couldn't speak. She shut her eyes tight, swallowed, and let her hands fall away from him.

"Detective Stabler!" Grecco shouted, running to him. "Are you all right? I tried to stop him..."

"It wasn't you?" Elliot queried, confused.

"No," the young cop said. "No, Sir. Of course not! I got out of the car to escort Detective Benson, and he came out of nowhere! He knocked me over, he...he just..."

"All right," Elliot said, brushing himself off and glancing at Olivia, and then he glared at Grecco. "Call this in, tell them what happened, and that we got a stolen squad car."

Olivia looked at him, shock and fear on her face, but her voice was steady. "Who the hell did you piss off?"

He laughed, pulling her in for another comforting hug, and his eyes closed as his head fell onto her shoulder. "Same person you did, obviously." He took a deep breath and pulled off of her, looking into her eyes. "Guess we're even."

"If you...if you didn't jump over to my side of the car...you would have been..." She pressed her lips tigers and stared at him for a minute, before the rush of clomping feet drew near.

"You two!" Cragen barked. "Again? Are you fucking kidding me?" He held up his walkie-talkie. "Grecco just radioed this in, I wasn't even halfway up the stairs, are you both okay?"

Elliot nodded. "Yeah, yeah, uh, Liv...she's pretty fucking strong." He smirked and winked at Olivia.

Cragen raised a brow, seeing it, but let it go for the time being. "We think it's the same punk-ass who tried to..."

"Flatten us like pancakes?" Olivia said, folding her arms.

Cragen paled, swallowed hard, and nodded. "They chased the bastard from the park, but the pursuit ended two blocks from here. The guy abandoned the car. Figure he must've been waiting out here for you two." He looked around cautiously. "Inside, now." He paddled his eyes from Elliot to Olivia. "I'm not letting either of you out of my sight."

"Yo!" Fin yelled, slamming his car door. "What the hell is going on?" He ran over to the trio and gave Olivia a long look, up and down, surveying for damage. He turned to look at Elliot and slapped him on the shoulder, gripping. "Heard all this on the radio, got here as fast as we could. You all right, man?"

Elliot nodded. "Yeah, just...fucking confused."

"Well, maybe I can clear some of it up for you," Munch injected, stepping up and putting his hands in his pockets. "The vic in the park? Her name is Chelsea Koehler."

"Whoa," Olivia jerked her head toward Munch with wide eyes. "As in Judge Koehler?"

Munch nodded. "Exactly, as in, actually. She's his granddaughter. I'm guessing whoever is trying to whack the two of you is trying to stop you from solving this case."

"Koehler is still behind bars," Elliot said, shaking his head. "We put him away."

Fin licked his lips. "Maybe that's why this son-of-a-bitch is after you." He gave Elliot a shove and then did the same to Olivia. "I'll fill you in on what we got from the school, and the parents, when we get inside."

Olivia gave Elliot a sidelong glance as they walked up the steps to the Sixteenth Precinct, and something powerful passed between them.

Elliot felt it, with his heart and soul. He knew, in that moment, what he needed from her more than anything. He only hoped he would survive, so he would be able to get it.

Reviews are welcome.

Peace and Love

Jo

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