Elliot knocked on the door in front of him and his partner, Olivia Benson. "NYPD, open up!" When no one responded, Elliot knocked a couple more times. After a few seconds of no answer, he sighed, and he and Olivia went back down the stoop and onto the sidewalk.

"They're never home when you need them to be, are they?" Olivia retorted, shaking her head. "I'm gonna give a call to Casey and tell her to start preparing a search warrant to bring to us. We're going to sit here until they come home."

"Might be a long night," Elliot stated leaning back against the car they drove to the house.

"It's already 7PM, they can't be gone for too much longer," Olivia commented as she walked away to speak to Casey on her cell phone.

The two partners were out on a job, questioning people related to one of their hotter open cases, and trying to gather evidence – the evidence they believe is behind the locked door in front of them.

"Novak is working on the search warrant and she said she'd bring it to us as soon as the judge grants it," Olivia informed her partner when she walked back toward him.

"I have a feeling this is going to take all night," Elliot sighed as he sat back in the car in the driver's seat to get out of the chilly late-October air.

"It might," she responded as she sat in the passenger seat.

"I'm gonna call Johanna and tell her I might be a little late tonight," he said as he pulled out his cell phone to dial her number.

"You have her number now?" Olivia questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"For situations like this," Elliot answered matter-of-factly. "So she's not waiting at the bar by herself all night if I'm not coming."

His partner just smiled cheekily at him.

"What?" He dialed the number of the beautiful redhead, but didn't call just yet.

"Nothing," Olivia shrugged still smirking.

"Just say it, Liv."

"It's nothing," she shrugged again. "You two have been meeting up weekly to play pool for over a month now. You have her number; you call her to keep her updated. And I see your subtle smile when she sends you texts."

"And?" Elliot pushed.

"And I think you like her, whether you want to admit it or not," she answered. "I think it's a good thing."

"Come on, Liv. It's not like that," he protested.

"It doesn't have to be, El. But it also can be."

His partner was right. It could be like that. But it just wasn't.

Every Thursday night for the past seven weeks, he and Johanna have been meeting up at the bar down the block from the precinct to play pool, have a few drinks, etc. One night after Elliot arrived to the bar an hour late, they decided to exchange numbers so they could keep in touch in case he had to work late. On occasion, they'll send each other a funny text or two about something that they had joked about during one of their pool games.

But that was it. There was flirting, but nothing more. There wasn't any touching, any kissing, anything to indicate they were more than just friends. He knew Olivia was right, that it could be something more, but he was content with what it currently was.

"We're just hanging out, enjoying each other's company," he informed her. "Nothing more than that. It's harmless."

Olivia knew her partner like the back of her hand. Hell, she knew him better than that. She could tell this Johanna girl made him happy, but she knew he was hesitant to rush into anything after his divorce. She understood where he was coming from, she battled her own demons when it came to relationships, but she wanted to shake him for being so stubborn.

"You're allowed to be happy, you know," Olivia reminded him. "You're allowed to do things that make you happy. You deserve that."

"I am happy," he reassured her. "I'm just going with the flow."

Elliot leaned against the cold brick wall with his hands in his pockets as he waited for Johanna outside the bar that night. He had walked straight to the bar after a long day at work, still in his work clothes, as he often did. That night, he wore a white button down shirt, tucked in, of course, with his sleeves rolled up, a casual black tie, and black slacks.

He was looking down and didn't notice when Johanna turned the corner, but her eyes immediately fell on him. She slowed her pace to a stop. The sight of him standing there, unaware of her presence, his warm breath visible as fog in the cold air – it made her heart flutter. She felt funny. But a good funny.

Elliot looked up and saw her, noticing the subtle grin on her face, which made him smile. She continued walking toward him, her boots clacking against the concrete beneath her. She was wearing black denim jeans and a fitted baby blue button up top under a black leather jacket.

"Hey, good looking," Johanna greeted when she approached him.

He raised his eyebrows with a flattered smile then responded, "Right back atcha."

She walked into the bar with Elliot close behind.

"So, you gonna tell me what's got you in such a good mood?" He wondered.

"What do you mean?" She asked as they sat down in two empty barstools.

"You can't stop smiling," he pointed out.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not at all," he laughed. "I love that you're so happy. You're just a little more smiley than usual. I just wanted to know why."

"I will tell you why," she started. "If you buy me a drink." They typically paid for their own drinks or take turns paying for each other's, but for the sake of flirting, she thought she'd ask.

"Deal," he agreed, not fazed by her request.

They ordered their usual two Manhattans, a cocktail Elliot rarely drank before meeting Johanna – but now, it was the only thing he drank.

"So?" He pushed.

"I just had a really great day at work," Johanna shared.

"Well tell me about it," he insisted. He genuinely wanted to hear about her day. He wasn't just saying that to be polite or kiss her ass. He wanted to know what made her tick, why she was in such a good mood. He wanted to know what put a smile on her face.

"I had a breakthrough with one of my tougher, more challenging clients this afternoon," she explained.

"Keep going," he pushed. "I wanna know what happened."

"You really wanna know?" She asked, baffled that anyone wanted to listen to her ramble about her job.

"Yeah," he laughed, unsure of why she wouldn't divulge her stories. "How'd you manage to get this breakthrough?"

"Well, okay...I've been working with this little boy for a few weeks now. He's 4, nonverbal, he can only utter a few simple sounds, and has extreme behavior problems. Which, I mean, makes sense considering he can't communicate, therefore gets frustrated and lashes out," she explained.

Elliot nodded in agreement. He couldn't fathom any of his children being unable to communicate their wants and needs, and he couldn't imagine how frustrating that would be, for both child and parents.

"So in order to establish SOME form of communication, I've been working on teaching him simple sign language, like cookie, drink, toy, and whatnot, so he can request things," she continued.

"Wait you know sign language?" He asked. This girl seemed to always surprise him in the best ways.

"Yeah," she answered. "But our sessions have been difficult because he gets frustrated very easily and lashes out at me. He hits and pinches and screams. He doesn't pay attention and hasn't been progressing at all, and I was really starting to wonder if he ever would. I wondered if maybe it was something I was doing wrong."

Elliot adored the way her face lit up when she spoke about her job. It was like she could talk about it all day. The passion in her voice, the light in her eyes. Elliot understood that look, he shared the same passion and light for his own job, though it seemed to weaken and diminish over the years.

"And this morning, while he was lashing out and throwing a fit, he started signing 'drink' on his own, which he hadn't done before. I gave him his drink, he calmed down, and next thing I know, he was mastering three other signs!" She proclaimed with a smile across her face.

"Wow, Johanna, that's..." Elliot was at a loss for words over this incredible deed that this incredible woman accomplished. "That's...great, that's really awesome. You're something, you know that?"

"Oh yeah?" She smirked.

"You're changing that little boy's life, and that's so awesome, I can't even comprehend it." He was being serious. He couldn't even comprehend the great things she was doing for this little boy.

"It's just as rewarding for me as it is for him," she stated. "These kids teach me patience, humility, acceptance, and to appreciate good things, no matter how insignificant."

Elliot could've kissed her right then and there. The way she was talking, it was the sexiest thing he's heard in a long time. She was so selfless, he felt tricked. Who was this martyr of a woman? How did he go 35 years of his life without knowing her? His life experiences ultimately made him doubt that there were genuinely good people left in the world. But here she was, living proof that people like that still exist.

"He mellowed out a lot too. Since he was able to communicate a few things he wanted, he wasn't so frustrated and didn't have to lash out so much. When his mom walked in the door, he signed 'mama'." She told him.

"I bet she loved that," he replied, imagining how incredible of a moment that must've been for his mother.

"She cried," Johanna said with a nod.

"You should be really proud of yourself," he said. "I'm so impressed and so proud to know you. You're changing the world."

The words echoed in Johanna's head for a moment. She didn't feel like she was changing the world. She knew she was changing this little boy's life, but the world? She realized that she didn't have to agree, she didn't have to believe she was changing the world, but if Elliot did, if he sees it as changing the world, then she appreciated it. She appreciated him thinking so highly of her, being so impressed by her abilities, and listening to every word she spoke about her job.

She loved her job. She loved talking about her job. She could go on for days without wanting to change the subject; the children she worked with were her life. She was proud of herself and the work she'd done. She was proud of the little lives she had impacted and improved.

And Elliot knew she was well on her way to impacting and improving his life as well.