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.

The faces behind the glass were stunned as they contorted and twisted, trying to discern if the emotions coming from the lone man in the interrogation room were genuine. Fin had stayed quiet as Porter badgered Haven, never once letting on that he knew it was Porter's idea to begin with. What was truly unbelievable, though, was how angry and violent Porter had been, berating the man for "killing" Olivia. To save Haven's life, he had to be removed from the room. No easy task, since many of his limbs were in casts and slings. Fin had left Porter alone, then, and joined Cragen, Dr. Huang, Novak, Elliot, and Olivia in the viewing room.

"What do you think?" Fin asked, crossing his arms, staring at the distraught federal agent through the window.

"I think he's a dead man," Elliot spat through clenched teeth. His nostrils flared and his chest puffed out. He felt Olivia's hands running up and down his arms, and he closed his eyes, trying to calm down for her sake.

Cragen ignored the display of affection to his left and said, "He looks really upset. I don't think he wanted Haven to hurt Liv. I don't see him spilling any tears over you, though, Elliot. That's what we need to figure out. Once he gives up, tells us the truth, we'll spring the two of you on him." He waited a beat. "No, you can't kill him."

Elliot huffed in response and turned, pulling Olivia fully into his arms. He kissed the crown of her head and mumbled something only she could hear. He felt her nod against his chest and tugged her head up with one finger, nestled under her chin. He looked into her eyes momentarily before he kissed her lips softly. "Promise?" he whispered to her.

She nodded again, offering as bright a smile as she could, and kissed him again. She looked at Cragen, ignoring the angry eyes of Casey Novak glaring at her. "How can you be sure he's going to talk, in the first place?"

Cragen too a breath. "Fin's going back in there, with Haven's written statement, and, uh, his financial statements. We found the withdrawal from Porter's account, the transfer into Haven's. For an FBI agent, he didn't think too much about paper trails."

"So he did this," Olivia breathed sadly. "He really did this. El, he..." she looked up into his eyes and shook her head. "I almost lost you...because of him..."

Elliot pressed a finger to her lips. "You didn't," he said gently. "Stop. I'm here, I'm okay. We're okay."

She nodded with pressed-together lips, an attempt to keep from crying, and she held him tighter as her head turned with the sound of the door hitching. Fin had gone back into the room. Her eyes widened as she saw Fin toss a stack of papers at Porter, and she watched Dean's eyes widen in turn, the color drained from his face, and the fear seeped into his demeanor.

"Son-of-a-bitch," Elliot hissed, pulling Olivia against him tighter. "Can I please just..."

"No," the word rang out from both Cragen and Olivia.

Elliot chuckled and looked down at his lover. "Why not?" he asked, a twinkle of lightness in his eyes.

She sniffled and nuzzled against his chest as she said, "I don't have a house I can put up as collateral to bail your ass out."

Laughter broke the tension in the room, a moment of easiness washed over them, but then Fin gave them the signal. Olivia shivered for a moment in Elliot's arms, and then felt herself being pushed toward the door. She righted herself and made a promise to stay between Elliot and Dean, protecting her partner more than the bastard who tried to kill him. When she stepped into the room, she saw Dean's eyes widen even more.

"Oh, my God, Olivia," Dean gasped, rising. "They told me...you were dead, I thought...I thought that..." and then his eyes landed on Elliot. "You? You're..."

"Alive?" Elliot scoffed. "Yeah. Sucks, huh?"

Dean ran toward Olivia, but Elliot moved her and despite her struggle to keep him at bay, he took a threatening lunge for Porter. "You sorry-ass son-of-a-bitch! You stay away from her!"

Olivia tugged on Elliot's hand, pulling him back and keeping him in check. "Please," she whispered, eyeing Elliot hopefully.

He turned to look at her, nodded once, and let her sink into him. "Sorry," he mumbled.

She nodded against his chest, but turned to look at Dean. "Why?" she asked. "Just...tell me why."

"You really believe I was behind this?" Dean asked, looking at her, pleadingly. "Fin handed me this pile of...garbage, but you honestly think I would..."

"Yeah," Elliot barked. "We fucking do! Haven gave you up! You asshole, the money, from you to him, so unless you can say..."

Dean held up a hand, looking down at the cement floor, defeated. "You." He pointed one finger at Elliot. "You, but not...not kill you. Just...take you out of commission. Just long enough to..."

"Long enough to what?" Elliot broke in again, his voice rising with his temperature. If he hadn't been holding onto Olivia, he would have attacked Dean at that moment. "You think putting me in a coma would have somehow kept her from loving me? A body cast would really stop us from being together? I got news for you, pal, she would have been right by my side, until I was back on my feet, and there would be..."

"You self-righteous son-of-a-bitch," Dean snapped, shaking his head. "For one thing, this whole thing was a sting to get Haven. He hired himself out as a hitman, and the first person who hired him wanted you dead, too," he explained.

"Koehler," Olivia breathed, digging her nails into Elliot's back.

Dean nodded. "When the tables turned, and the good judge bit the dust, Haven put feelers out for someone else who wanted the two of you out of the way, and rather than take the chance that someone with honest intent got a hold of him, the bureau made him an offer, one he'd be a fool to turn down." He flopped into his seat and made a disbelieving grunt. "He was told to meet me, plan it out, and then, instead of following my rules, he tried to run you over, twice." He ran a hand down his face. "I offered to be your detail..."

"Because you knew he'd really go through with it," Olivia finished for him. "You were...using us..."

"As bait," Dean said, nodding. He licked his lips. "Granted, I didn't care one way or another, if Stabler made it out of this alive, but I swear on my life, Olivia, he was given direct orders not to hurt you."

"Killing him?" she fumed, pushing Elliot away and gesturing madly toward him, her unshed tears now pouring from her eyes with anger and vengeance. "You don't think losing him would have fucking hurt me? Are you out of your goddamned mind?"

"Hey," Elliot whispered, pulling her back into his arms.

Olivia shook her head and glared at Dean. "You fucking left us in that house, alone! What was that about? Fin said something about an accident, but there was no accident, was there?" She tried to pry herself out of Elliot's grip but he had her pressed against him too firmly. "You lied, you son-of-a-bitch! You were never coming to stop him, because you wanted him to..."

"Yes! Fine!" Dean yelled, his own temper finally reaching a boiling point. "I wanted Elliot Stabler out of my way, once and for all, but God, you have to believe me, he was not supposed to try to hurt you!"

"Those people," Elliot said, surprisingly calm, "The ones who broke into the house, the first time, those were..."

"Agents," Dean said, rubbing his forehead. "I told them...I told them it was a sting op, that you two were a threat to national security. Haven was..."

"Taking too long," Elliot hissed, shaking his head in disgust. "So, what, you wanted me gone because I got in the way of you and Liv? You didn't have any hope of another chance with her, even with me dead." He sneered at Dean. "She doesn't want anything to do with..."

"With you out of the way," Dean interrupted, "She wouldn't be able to work at SVU. Or any other department in the NYPD. Not without going crazy, am I right?" He laughed bitterly and said, "I'd offer her a new job, a new life, far away from anything that could possibly remind her of you, and eventually, she'd forgive me for hurting her, before. And what you two had...I would have with her." He leaned back in his chair and smiled smugly. "There's your truth."

"Read him his rights," Elliot said, looking at Fin. "Before I do something I'm going to regret."

Fin moved, but Porter held up a hand a grinned smugly. "I think I've proven I'm above the law," Dean said. "I've gotten away with murder before, you can't prove anything, and, uh, since you're both alive, anyway, there really isn't anything you can charge me with. Nothing that would stick, anyway. So you two...go somewhere and... fuck each other's brains out, and get over it." He smoothed out his tie. "I'll see you the next time I have a federal case that you..."

"You really are crazy," Olivia said, shocked, her eyes wide and her jaw half-dropped. "We...everything you just said...is on tape, Dean."

Dean blinked. "No, no, you...you don't record your interrogations," he said, narrowing his eyes. "There's nothing you can do to me. I'm above your..."

Olivia silenced him by moving the collar of her tee shirt, revealing a bit of wire and a small microphone. "This wasn't an SVU interrogation."

The door opened behind her, and Dr. Huang along with two other federal agents walked into the room. Elliot smirked with a ferocity in his eyes that would scare the devil himself. "Have fun trying to talk your way out of it, this time," he said. He took one, single step, lowered his voice, and looked into Dean's eyes. "If you ever, ever, come anywhere near her, me, or the rest of my family again, I will kill you. And unlike you, I'll get the job done right, the first time. No one would ever find your body."

"That's...that's on tape, you know," Dean said, pale and shaky.

Elliot nodded. "Good." He let out a threatening growl and moved with Olivia back through the door, letting Huang and the FBI handle the rest of Dean's interrogation. He watched as Olivia pulled the wire and recorder off of her chest and hand it to Cragen. He reached for her again, and let out a hard breath when she fell into him and curled herself around him. He caught Casey's eyes, and though he knew what the hidden emotion in her eyes meant, he nodded at her. "Go for the max, Novak."

Casey nodded back at him. "Absolutely," she said, and she rested a hand on Olivia's shoulder, the jealousy not enough to overshadow friendship. "I'm really...sorry this all happened, but I'm glad you're okay." She looked at Elliot. "Both of you."

Elliot nodded again and kissed Olivia's forehead as Casey left the room to make arrangements and put Porter's arraignment on the calendar. "So," he said with a long, drawn out breath as he turned to look at Cragen. "What does this mean for us?"

Cragen blinked, looking at him, and his lips curled into a hesitant smile. "It means you have trial prep, starting tomorrow."

Elliot narrowed his eyes. "Cap, I meant..."

"I know what you meant," Cragen said, shrugging. "I saw this coming. I just...didn't want to have to deal with it and, at the same time, deal with almost losing the two of you. It's Tucker's call, to be honest, and what you do with your life is no concern of his, unless it starts affecting your work."

"It won't," Olivia's meek voice stated. "You know it won't."

Cragen smiled. "Of course, I do. I wouldn't be ignoring it if I didn't." He sighed and said, "Go home, get some sleep. Tomorrow morning, it's back to work for the two of you, now that you're...safe."

They watched Cragen leave, and then spent a few minutes just staring at each other, silently. Elliot was the first to speak as he led her out into the squad room. "I've been safe, the whole time." He kissed her lips. "So have you. I was never...I will never let anything happen to you." He grabbed her jacket and wrapped her up in it, and kissed her again. He pulled on his own coat and said, "Whenever I'm with you, Liv, that's home for me. You're my safe..."

She stopped his words with a sweet kiss. "Haven," she whispered. And as they walked out of the unit, they left behind the trauma and pain of a long, difficult month, and headed into something new, something bright, together.

Peace and Love

Jo

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