Olivia's lungs screamed for oxygen as she ran after the perp. Even though she ran at least five miles a day at the track and worked out in the gym daily she was struggling to keep up with the current perp she was chasing. This just reaffirmed what she was taught in the academy. Officers aged but perps always stayed within the 18-25 age range.

"STOP POLICE." Olivia shouted as she looked both ways before darting across the intersection. Using the curb as the leverage she needed she launched herself toward the suspect tackling him like a quarterback.

"Sir you are under arrest for the rape and murder of Maryanne Ruger." Olivia huffed out as she cuffed his hands behind his back gasping for some much needed air.

"Nice tackle partner" Elliot said as he caught up to them.

"Thanks." Olivia said as she stood on her feet accepting Elliot's assistance. "One thing is for sure I am getting too old to be chasing after perps. I almost didn't catch him."

"You're never to old to chase after perps"

"El lets face it. Maddy turns eighteen this week and graduates in a month. The twins are growing so fast that I miss so much on a daily basis. Just the other day AJ hit a grand slam that I missed because I was questioning the newest piece of scum we have caught."

"Olivia the job is the same as its always been."

"I know but I'm really starting to re think it. Maddy will be eighteen this week and graduating School next month. She has been accepted to West point Academy with honors and a full ride. The boys have decided they would like to follow in her footsteps so they begin the Academy in the fall. Alex is spending less time at Joyful Heart and more time at home now. I have been thinking about doing the same."

Elliot stared at his partner and knew this was not a decision that she had leaped to. This was one that she had apparently been considering for awhile. He understood how she felt. He almost lost his son a few years ago after a case they had been on caused a friend of his to die. Dickie had given him two options. Sign the paperwork to enter the army early or wait till he was eighteen and he would never see him again. With Kathy's plea's he signed the paperwork and Dickie left for basic when he was seventeen. Now they were slowly rebuilding their relationship. He knew all too well the strain the job took on them.

"What would you do if you retired? You're what we call a cops cop."

"I have no clue El but I wouldn't be woken up at two in the morning to see how horrible one human can be to another. I wouldn't have to see the look of worry and fear in Alex's eyes that she tries to hide anymore. I wouldn't kiss my sons goodbye and wonder if they will be the last kiss they will ever get from me."

"I know. Trust me I know."

"Alex I'm home." Olivia called later that evening as she walked through the front door and tossed her keys on the table by the door. She had yet to discuss with Alex what she had talked over with Elliot earlier that day. It just seemed to pop out when she made the arrest that afternoon.

"Hey stud" Alex husked out as she leaned against the door going to the kitchen.

Olivia stood there trying to slow her heart rate and regulate her breathing after seeing Alex. It was amazing how after all this time one look from her had her as turned on as the first day she walked up to the table in the café. They were truly an example of how their desires grow as they grew older not the opposite.

"Hey Blondie" Olivia whispered as she pulled Alex to her and inhaled the heavenly scent of vanilla soap and shampoo that Alex used "Where are the boys?"

"With mom and dad remember. We have the night to ourselves."
"That's good Blondie because we need to talk."

"Come on" Alex said as she led Olivia into the kitchen sitting her at the island as she poured her a cup of coffee/ Once she placed it in front of her she sat propped up next to Olivia "What's bothering you stud?"

"What would you say if I told you I have been considering retiring."

"Honestly I would be thrilled. To know you'd home and out of danger everyday will be a great relief. But your a cop's cop, can you handle retirement."

"That's the same thing El said to me when I brought this up. Truthfully I don't know if I can handle it but I do know that I'm getting older and the perps are getting younger. I also know I have missed some major milestones in our lives and our kids lives because of the job. For some reason it is now weighing on me something fierce."

"You have been there for everything that has counted. When the kids were younger you would come home tuck them in read them a story and kiss them good night every night no matter what was going on. You have never once let me down or not been there for me so I want that thought out of your head now. Honey if retirement is what you want you know I support you one hundred percent. I always have and always will."

"I know. I feel like its time to close this chapter in my life and start a new one. Our golden years. Lets face it I'm getting to old to do three am call outs. No matter how much I run and work out the perps are getting younger and stronger. Hell the last time I worked straight through for days on in I had to take at least three hour nap each day. I still remember working fifty hour straight before hitting the crib for thirty only. I can't do it anymore. Physically, mentally, and emotionally I am drained of the job."

"Honey you four have outlasted and broken expectations with staying with SVU. The average tour is two years. You have been there for well over twenty years almost thirty with the department. Maybe it is time to retire. If not retire transferring to a different department but if we want to be honest to ourselves you will not survive in another department."

"I know."

"So you decide what you want to do. I support you no matter what."

Olivia looked up into the blue eyes that stole her heart when she looked into them when she was twenty one. The crystal blue eyes that she for the first time ever saw her future. The same blue eyes that she found herself melting into on a daily basis. Looking into those eyes she decided then and there what she not only needed to do but had to do with al her heart. Tomorrow morning she was turning in her letter of retirement.