Author's Note: Just wanted to say thank you real quick to all the readers who have posted a review for this story! I love hearing what you guys think about it, and it's great motivation for me to type up the next chapters! So thank you! &*

"That is really weird!" Johanna cackled wildly as she leaned over the pool table and lined up her shot.

"Why? Lots of people are scared of birds!" Elliot defended as he watched her.

"Not grown ass men!" She teased, jabbing the white ball with her pool stick to take her shot. "You live in New York for crying out loud – there's pigeons everywhere!"

Despite Johanna's reluctance to fully let Elliot into her world, their relationship went back to normal, continuing their weekly meet-ups at their usual bar to play pool.

As the weeks passed, Elliot realized he hadn't gotten through to her as much as he originally thought, but he was pleased by the small steps they took: numerous date nights throughout the week in addition to playing pool, spending the night together at least once a week, etc. It felt like a typical relationship, so he surrendered to the hope that she would eventually come around.

"Whatever, I bet you're scared of something weird," Elliot insisted as he took his turn over the pool table.

"Hmm," Johanna thought.

"Oh, I know something weird you're scared of," he suggested as he looked over at her slyly.

"And what's that?" She wondered, placing her hand on her hip.

"Love," he answered as he walked around her closely. "You're afraid of love."

"Ooh." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Sick burn."

He laughed at her reaction then added, "Joking, of course."

"Ha-ha!" She spat.

Pleased with his little joke, Elliot held a smug look on his face as he watched Johanna sink the last two balls into a hole, winning the game.

She walked around Elliot closely, as he had done to her only minutes before, and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "I win."

"I let you win," he flirted. He was getting better at the whole flirting thing.

"You wish," she teased.

When she turned around to put the pool sticks up into the racks against the wall, he reached over and smacked her gently on her ass then quickly leaned back against the pool table to seem inconspicuous. She yelped and spun back around, eyeing him cautiously. He smirked at her so cutely; it made her want to melt into the floor.

Johanna couldn't help but think the man was adorable. He was rough, he was protective and proper and strong. But when he smiled at her, whether it was sweetly or smugly, it nearly made her heart combust in her chest.

She walked over to him and stood between his legs then kissed him on the lips eagerly. She pushed his lips open with her tongue and he met her tongue with his. Her hand grazed between his legs, and he jumped slightly, feeling blood rush to the area where her hands were touching him through his jeans.

She pulled away from him quickly and walked away to continue picking up the billiards supplies.

With his eyes still shut, Elliot sighed. He pushed himself off of the pool table, not acknowledging the redhead, and walked over to the bar then said something to Tommy, the bartender. Johanna watched him, confused as she was expecting his reaction to be much different. She watched as Tommy handed Elliot his credit card and a receipt, which he signed, then he walked back over to her.

Without hesitation, Elliot picked up Johanna and threw her over his shoulder. She squealed and laughed wildly as he walked out the door of the bar.

"What are you doing?!" She screeched, unable to stop laughing as the blood flowed to her head.

"Taking you home," he answered, smugly smirking.

"Are you going to have your way with me?" She wondered cutely.

"Yep," he replied simply.

"Good!" She laughed again, reaching forward and smacking Elliot's ass.

She loved the way he made her feel. She wanted so badly to let go of her inhibitions and let Elliot into her life fully, but no matter how hard she tried, something always held her back.

Johanna sat at her desk filling out the paperwork that Elliot had faxed over to her earlier. She had to fill out a few documents and prepare a write-up about her interaction with Liam Ware, the little boy with autism that she helped a few months back. Their trial was coming up soon, and they needed her to fill out the legal paperwork for court, as she was a certified professional now.

She wrote carefully about how Liam had told them certain aspects of what he saw the night of his mother's murder. It was breaking her heart all over again. She didn't know how Elliot and Olivia dealt with that kind of stuff all day every day.

She glanced up when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!" She hollered.

The door opened revealing Elliot, smiling goofily.

"Stabler!" Johanna smiled. "This is a pleasant surprise."

"I came to personally pick up the paperwork for the Ware trial from you," he told her as he walked into her office. "But I mostly just needed a good excuse to come see you." He leaned down and kissed her lips softly.

"I am very glad you did," she responded.

When Elliot stood up, Johanna saw Grace in the hallway with wide eyes. She pointed to Elliot and mouthed 'Is that him?'

Johanna laughed at her friend. "Grace, come meet Elliot."

"Ah, hi." Grace smiled and stuck out her hand as she walked into her friend's office. "I'm Grace."

"Elliot," he replied, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

"I've heard a lot about you too," Grace said.

"Good things, I hope," he teased.

"Oh yeah," Grace responded with a wink.

Johanna's eyes widened as Elliot chuckled.

"Don't you have a session in a few minutes?" Johanna suggested.

"I do actually," Grace smirked then turned to leave the room. "Nice to meet you, Elliot."

"You too," he responded.

Grace took a few steps out of Johanna's office then turned around and pointed to Elliot again and mouthed 'He's so fine' while fanning herself.

Johanna laughed at her, but before Elliot could turn around and see what she was laughing at, Grace walked away quickly.

"I'm almost done with the paperwork," Johanna said, pulling Elliot's attention back to her.

"That's fine," he said as he walked over to her and stood behind her chair as she went back to writing. "No rush," he told her as he put his hand on her shoulders, massaging her lightly, looking at all the pictures and notes she had tacked up on her wall.

Some were pictures of kids, who he assumed were old or current clients. Some were pictures of her with the kids. And the notes, from what he could read, were thank you notes from parents and kids whose lives she had changed.

He was so genuinely proud to know her.

"Okay," Johanna sighed as she finished writing. "That should be good."

"Thank you," he told her as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "You're the best."

"I know you're probably not supposed to, but keep me updated with how the trial goes," she requested as she handed over the paperwork to him.

"I'll try my best," he responded then leaned down to kiss her again, this time on the lips. "I've gotta run these to Casey, she needs them ASAP. I'll call you later."

"Okay, bye, Stabler." She waved and watched as he turned around and walked away.

Less than a minute after Elliot had disappeared from her view, Grace popped in her doorway.

"Holy shit, Johanna," she cried. "What a freakin' hottie!"

Johanna laughed wildly. "How long have you been waiting for him to leave so you could come in here and squeal over him?"

"Ever since I pretended to have a client and left," she answered with a laugh. "But seriously."

"I know," Johanna agreed. "He's a hunk."

"He's so nice and polite, and he was so sweet to you, and wow, he's a cop, that's like insanely sexy," Grace gushed, rambling.

She had to agree with Grace – Elliot was kind of sort of the perfect man. And he was all hers.