Elliot drove home from the precinct quickly on Friday evening, eager to call Johanna to plan their date. The busy New York roads kept his mind alert as he drove through Queens to his home.

When he pulled up to his house, he noticed his ex-wife's car in the driveway. He groaned, wondering why she was there unannounced. He rolled his eyes when he realized she was nowhere in sight, meaning she had used her 'emergencies only' key to enter his house.

As he sauntered up the walkway, Dickie, his only son, came hurdling through the door toward him.

"Daddy!" The blond-haired, blue-eyed boy yelled excitedly as he hurried down the steps to his father.

"Hey, buddy!" Elliot exclaimed, picking his son up and holding him up in the air. "Look at you, you're getting so tall!"

He perched the child on his hip and walked up the steps to his front door where he met Kathy.

"What are you doing here?" He wondered, shutting the door.

"Dickie was missing his daddy," she informed him plainly.

"Aw," Elliot smiled at the boy in his arms. "Daddy was missing you too!" He tickled his son gently, sending the little boy into a fit of giggles.

Dickie wriggled in his father's arms, letting him know he wanted to get down. When his little feet hit the ground, he took off toward his bedroom that contained his toys.

"The girls didn't want to come over?" Elliot wondered.

"Maureen and Kathleen are going to friends' houses for the night and Elizabeth's at my mom's. Dickie kept asking for you, so I thought we'd come over and surprise you," his ex-wife explained. "Can he stay with you tonight?"

"Sure," he answered without hesitation, knowing Johanna would understand if he had to cancel his date with her again because of his son.

Kathy folded her arms across her chest and stared at Elliot as he walked into the kitchen. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" He asked her as he walked toward the refrigerator.

"That you're seeing someone," she answered bluntly.

Elliot turned around and narrowed his eyes at her. "Who told you that?" Literally no one that knew about Johanna would blab about her to Kathy.

"A friend of mine saw you last night," she told him. "Outside the precinct. She said you were kissing a young redheaded girl when she passed by around midnight."

"Jesus, Kathy," he groaned, turning around and opening the refrigerator. "What the hell does it matter?"

"I just want to know. Is it true?" She asked again.

"No," Elliot snapped then realized he was technically lying. "I mean, yes, I'm seeing someone. But it's nothing serious."

"So you're basically just sleeping with her?" She accused.

"What the – is that why you're here?" He wondered, grabbing a coke from the fridge then turning back to her, realizing how suspicious it was that she brought Dickie to his house unexpectedly, wanting him to spend the night with Elliot. He scoffed, "Wow. You were trying to see if I was going to be busy with her tonight."

"Oh, as if." She rolled her eyes and dropped her hands. "Dickie was asking for you all day."

"But instead of calling, you just came over," Elliot hinted. "What, were you trying to catch us in the act or something?"

"You're ridiculous," she spat. But she knew she had been caught red-handed.

Initially, Kathy suspected it was Olivia he was kissing outside the precinct. It would've confirmed her relentless suspicion of their affair. But alas, her friend was positive that it was a woman younger and prettier than his partner. That thought didn't sit well with Kathy. She thought for sure once the divorce was final that he and Olivia would come clean and admit their misconducts – but she had been wrong about them all along. She thought it would make her happy to know the truth, but she cringed at Elliot upgrading to a younger and more attractive woman, and she had to find out for sure.

Elliot was in disbelief. For the first few months after their separation, he was heartbroken. He tried to persuade Kathy to come back, but once she signed the divorce papers, he relented and agreed to it. He was resentful but always remained cordial with her for the sake of his children. And now, he was thankful she left him and divorced him. He did not miss the unnecessary arguments.

"I don't get it, Kathy," he shook his head at her. "You're the one who wanted a divorce. You're the one who left me. What did you think I was going to do? What do you want from me?"

"I'm not doing this," she shook her head, turning around and heading for the door.

"That's right," Elliot provoked her as he followed her back into the living room. "Run away! It's what you do best when things don't go your way!"

"I'll be back to get Dickie in the morning," she spat before she opened the door and slammed it shut behind her.

He punched the back of the door angrily. Angry that Kathy still had the ability to put him in the worst mood. Angry that she used their son to manipulate him. Angry that because of her insecurities, even after their divorce, he was forced to stay home and wouldn't be able to take Johanna on his promised date. He wondered what happened to the vibrant woman he married.

Elliot sat in his recliner later that night, rocking back and forth slowly with his son asleep in his arms, drooling on his shirt. The room was dark, only illuminated by the flicker of the TV. The volume was turned down low, just barely above whispers, so his son could sleep soundly. He cherished moments like this, knowing his child wouldn't fall asleep on his chest like that for much longer.

He reached over carefully and grabbed his phone from the table beside him. He typed out a quick text message to Johanna, letting her know he was sorry that his plans had changed again, but he was in for the night with his son. He sent the text message then kissed the side of Dickie's head, almost as if he was reassuring his son that he didn't blame him for the turn of events.

He felt guilty for wanting to go out with Johanna. He loved his son and always wanted to spend time with him, but he missed his late nights with the vivacious redhead who was slowly but surely bettering his life. He clenched his jaw when he suddenly realized that's what Kathy wanted all along. She expected him to tell her that Dickie couldn't spend the night because he had plans, and she would use that against him to make him feel guilty for spending time with this woman instead of his children.

The phone buzzed quietly in his hand. 'Aww, glad you're getting to spend time with him. Don't worry about tonight – just have fun with your boy!' Johanna's text message read.

He sighed heavily. She was by far the most understanding person he had ever met. He appreciated her more than she could ever know. He wanted to just invite her over, Dickie would've loved her, but he knew she would think that meeting his kids was too serious of a step in their relationship.

Meeting his kids meant they had a serious, definite future.

Psychiatrist and criminal profiler, Dr. George Huang, stood next to Elliot outside the interrogation room as they watched Olivia intimidate a suspect on the other side of the one-way mirror.

"What do you think?" Dr. Huang asked. "You like him for it?"

"I don't know," Elliot answered as he watched the man franticly answer his partner's questions about his whereabouts on the night his ex-wife was murdered. "My gut is telling me yes, but I'm not convinced yet. What do you think?"

"Well," George began. He was always soft spoken with a gentle demeanor. "He seemed genuinely shocked at the details of the murder. And they've been divorced for a while; I don't see why he would want her dead at this point."

Elliot scoffed. "You've obviously never gone through a divorce."

George looked at his coworker, wondering where the snarky comment came from. "Having problems with Kathy?"

Ignoring the request to pry into his personal life, Elliot answered, "Just don't be so sure his ex-wife didn't still drive him crazy even after they were divorced."

"Would she drive him crazy enough to kill her?" George pushed.

"Huang, I'm not going to kill Kathy," Elliot rolled his eyes. "I can hear the psychoanalysis in your questions."

"Sorry," George nodded, agreeing that he was trying to dissect his coworker's emotions, rather than just talking to him. "As a friend, not as a psychiatrist, I want you to know that if you need to talk about your relationship Kathy, I'm all ears."

Typically, Elliot would have brushed off his offer, not wanting to say something off-putting that would land him in mandatory psych counseling. But the recent tiff with his ex-wife was still strongly on his mind.

"She just always implies that I'm doing something wrong. She always has," Elliot looked forward through the glass and folded his arms. "Nothing was good enough – 'You're always working. You're always late. You never spend enough time with me or the kids. You never help around the house or fix what needs to be fixed.' All I ever heard was what I did wrong."

"Sounds like she put you down then kicked you when you were down," Huang observed.

"Yeah," Elliot confirmed. "So I did what she wanted, I divorced her. And now she's trying to make me feel guilty for seeing someone and trying to move on."

"How so?"

"A friend of hers saw me kissing Johanna outside the precinct a couple nights ago. So Kathy shows up to my house with Dickie yesterday unannounced, claiming he missed me and wanted to stay the night with me. I guess she expected me to tell her I was busy so she could ask why I would be busy and then I would either get caught lying or have to spill the beans that I was seeing someone," Elliot explained. "But I told her he could stay, so then she just flat out asked me if I was seeing someone then acted as if I was the one who was insane."

"She's projecting her insecurities on you, Elliot, making you feel bad because she feels bad, but she doesn't feel bad because of you. That stems from something deeper," Huang explained. "I know it affects you after enduring years of her belittling you, but the only way she will stop is when you stop letting her."

"I don't know how to stop letting her," Elliot admitted. "She's a pro."

"Start by reminding yourself that you aren't the cause of her unhappiness, therefore you shouldn't allow her to be the cause of yours," George suggested.

Elliot had to admit he had a point. If deep down, Kathy's issues were an internal conflict she had with herself, then he wasn't the reason for her unhappiness. Why did she get to be the root of his?