Elliot sat in his car overlooking the house that he shared with his soon to be ex-wife of twenty years. All of the details were still the same. There was still the oversized porch that creaked slightly when you walked on it, the same shrubbery out front and the screen door that he had to repair on more than one occasion from the twins hitting it with footballs, soccer balls and anything else they were playing with. One thing that was different about the house was the lack of anger and resentment that filled the atmosphere during those last few years of their marriage. He's sure it seemed silly that the exterior of a house could look different based on the changing dynamic of the interior but he swears it seems brighter and more lively than it did when he lived there.

He was twenty minutes early to pick up Elizabeth for school. Kathy called him last night to tell him that Dickie was running a high fever and she wouldn't be able to take their daughter to school. She apologized for calling so late but had to catch him before this morning and knew that he kept late hours because of work anyway. He caught the thin edge in her voice, a result of Olivia picking up his phone at nearly midnight but she didn't say anything. He didn't think she would. Not last night when Olivia was just a few inches away from him. However, he was fully prepared for whatever she had to launch at him this morning. He expected that this would happen at some point anyway he was just hoping it would be more on his terms.

When he hung up the phone with her after a short two-minute conversation where he asked the specifics about Dickie's illness and verified the time to show up, he noticed that Olivia had tensed and once again retreated to the bathroom. Thankfully she returned as soon as he hung up, apologized for picking up his phone by accident and got back in the bed. He assured her that it wasn't a problem and he had nothing to hide from his ex. She was a little apprehensive at first but soon turned in to him falling asleep on his chest. He held her throughout the night and when he woke up this morning he was surprised to find her already awake still in his arms. She had faith that he had his personal situation with Kathy and the kids under control and as he ascended the steps to his former home he set out to make sure that was the case.

Kathy answered the door after his second round of knocks. Her hair was a little messy and she had on her robe. "Hey you're early. Come in."

He stepped inside holding the bag from the drug store. "Well I bought some supplies for Dickie. Some cough medicine, nasal spray, tea and some tissues."

She looked at him for a split second like he was a stranger, smirked and then politely took the bag from his hand. "Thank you. This actually keeps me from having to leave out to go to the store." It's not that Elliot wouldn't have gone to the store and done these things when they were married but she would've had to tell him. He's suddenly thoughtful and considerate and she didn't know whether to be happy that he's so helpful to her now or a little bothered by the fact that he waited until their divorce was almost final to decide to do the things she had been complaining about for years.

He followed her into the kitchen, his hands in his pockets awkwardly trying to determine how to approach the subject of the phone call last night.

"So…last night when you called," he began and she looked up from the sink eyeing him knowingly.

"Yes last night when I called and Olivia answered," she finished.

He took his hands out of his pockets and placed them on the kitchen island bracing himself for whatever reaction he was going to get. "Yes she didn't mean to but it was late and-" he stopped suddenly realizing that despite everything they had gone through, the kids and marriage, they were getting a divorce and he didn't owe her that level of explanation. "Anyway regardless of why, it was an accident but Olivia is in my life now."

She took a deep breath and set down the cup she was rinsing out. "Well I gathered that from the fact that you guys were together at midnight and obviously not at the precinct."

He nodded acknowledging her comment waiting for what else she had to say. He didn't have to wait long.

"How long?"

It was a fair question and one that he should've volunteered when he started but he was uneasy.

"It's only been a few weeks," he explained. She folded her arms and sized him up as if she was trying to determine if she believed him or not.

"Regardless of what suspicions you had in the past, I have never cheated on you Kathy. I wouldn't do that. Olivia wouldn't do that. We've been separated over a year, our divorce is almost final."

"A week," she interrupted him. "It will be final in about week or so. I talked to the lawyer yesterday. That's what else I wanted to tell you."

"Ok. Thanks for letting me know."

When she continued to just stand and look at him he continued with his explanation. "I plan to tell the kids soon. I think Maureen and Kathleen already have their suspicions."

"They do," she interrupted again. "They told me about it a few days ago. Wanted to make sure I was ok with it."

"And are you?"

"Would it matter if I wasn't?"

He let out a heavy sigh. He didn't want to do this with her but he expected a fight. Kathy had long had her suspicions about him and Olivia and he was sure that their dating now was just a confirmation of that.

"It would bother me if you weren't ok with it for the kids sakes but would it stop me from dating Olivia? I think you already know the answer to that," he said firmly.

She took a deep breath and tapped her fingers apprehensively on the counter. "I know you wouldn't cheat on me Elliot but all those times I accused you of there being something more between the two of you and you denied it."

"I didn't realize it Kathy. I didn't know it was happening between us until much later," he defended himself.

She sighed and held her hands to her head as if she was trying to reign in her temper.

"Whatever you want to say, just say it," he assured her.

She sighed again. "How could you not see it? I told you. It was so damn obvious. You aren't that naïve Elliot."

He put his hands in his pocket and rocked on his heels choosing his words carefully. "I knew something was…different. I knew stuff was there but I didn't want to think about it because I swear I didn't want to do or say anything that would compromise our marriage. I just pushed it all away."

She put her hand on her hip and looked down at the counter. "Sometimes I wish—I wish."

"What?"

"I wish you would've just put us all out of our misery," she whispered.

He was ready to strike back and refute what she said but she was right. He couldn't imagine how hard it must've been for her to send him off to work everyday knowing that there was something brewing between him and Olivia.

"I wish I would've handled things differently," he partly agreed. "But here we are."

"Yes. Here we are," she said simply. "Just let me know when you are going to tell the kids so I can be prepared."

"How do you think they will take it?"

"Well the older ones are fine with Dickie and Liz it could go either way. They like Olivia though so she probably stands a better chance than anyone else you would try to introduce them to." There was a bit of a smile in her eyes and he smiled back. It wasn't perfect but it was a step in the right direction. They were officially moving on. He appreciated the time he had with Kathy and would always love her for being the mother of his children but he was ready to start his life with Olivia.

"Dad I'm ready," Liz announced coming around the corner with her booksack. She grabbed her lunch from her mom, kissed her on the cheek and grabbed a juice from the fridge. Elliot looked in on Dickie real quick who was still sleeping and he and Liz were on their way out the door before Kathy stopped him. "I really am happy for you Elliot. You seem happier and the kids notice it too. That's good for everyone."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek sincerely moved by her words. He walked down the stairs and got into the car breathing a sigh of relief before he started the engine. He had one hurdle down. Now he had one more. Work.

XXXXX

Elliot seemed to have a weight lifted off him after the conversation with Kathy. Olivia walked on eggshells around him when he came into work that morning after dropping off Liz only to find out that everything was settled. When he walked in, he was in a decent mood and asked her to talk in the locker room. He gave her a chaste kiss and told her he talked to Kathy and everything went fine. He didn't give details and she didn't want them but he told her he planned to talk to the kids soon. She was nervous about all the changes going on in their lives but every moment with him made her realize it was all worth it.

They settled into a nice rhythm at work and over the next two weeks they managed to behave themselves and didn't seem to arouse any suspicion. The trial for Brandon Lee Redding was coming up for the school shooting and Olivia was prepping for a trial on another case too. They were keeping long hours but managed to still find time for each other.

"What are you doing?" she giggled when Elliot pulled her into a small hallway by the interrogation room. It had become one of their places to steal some time away because it had little to no foot traffic.

"I'm getting ready to head to court and just wanted to give you a kiss real quick," he explained pressing his lips to hers. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"

"Well I never have any trouble coming with you?" she joked and pulled him towards her with his tie placing a soft kiss just beneath his ear lobe. "But honestly I'm swamped this morning and unlike you, I have a ton of paperwork for the Welsh case."

"Ok fine. I'll head out. See you this afternoon," he pouted. "I love you."

She smiled and let his words wash over her like it did every time he said it. "I love you too. I'll make it up to you and make dinner for you later tonight. How does that sound?"

"I thought you were trying to make it up to me not kill me," he teased.

"Funny. And for that you won't get dessert," she whispered while they walked back to their desks.

Munch grabbed his jacket and she sat down at her desk. "Hey Elliot you ready for court?"

"Lets do it."

He winked at her when he walked out and she covered up the smile on her face by drinking from her cup of coffee. She was working for a few hours when she felt a presence near her.

Kathy was standing in front of Elliot's desk with an envelope in her hand staring. Olivia had no clue how long she had been standing there when their eyes met. It was a few seconds but it felt longer and for all of her years of training at reading the body language of perps she had no idea how to read the body language of her lover's ex wife. Her soft blue eyes were neutral and she stood more confident than she had ever seen her before. She wanted to open her mouth and say something but couldn't get the words to form.

Fin saw their stand off and cleared his throat. "Hey Kathy, Elliot is actually in court."

"Oh. I guess I should've called first." She looked between Fin and Olivia and stalled on what she wanted to say next. "Well I have something for him that I wanted to deliver in person but I guess maybe I can give it to you," she told Olivia.

Fin walked away and Kathy talked lower as she approached Olivia's desk. "These are our finalized divorce papers." Kathy set the envelope in her hand. "I guess it's time for us all to move on."

Olivia ran her hand across the flap of the envelope and Kathy stood near the edge of her desk waiting for her to speak. When Olivia said nothing, she turned on her heel to walk out but Olivia quickly stopped her putting her hands on her arm to get her attention.

Once again she was at a loss for words. She knew what she wanted to say but there was no way to say it without making matters worse.

I'm sorry that your marriage is over and for causing you any pain but I'm not sorry for loving him.

She decided to go the safe route. "Thank you…for being so considerate about…everything."

Kathy nodded her understanding. "Like I said. It's time for us all to move on."

With that she was gone. Olivia sat back in her chair replaying the scene in her mind. She was looking for any sign that she really wasn't ok with everything that was going on with her and Elliot but she saw it in her eyes that Kathy had really let go.

It's time for us all to move on.

The words played over and over in her head. She smiled and let the happiness dissolve into her veins. Her and Elliot were going to be together and if Kathy was on board she had more certainty that the kids would be too. Work was still something they had to muddle through and thankfully despite their carelessness at times they managed not to be caught. She was working on her paperwork again a little longer and thinking through what she would make for Elliot for dinner when her phone rang. It was Casey.

She smiled prepared for her nosey friend to bombard her with all kinds of questions during what she assumed was a court recess. "Benson."

"Olivia there was a shooting during the hearing. Elliot and John were shot. He's—"

Her mind went blank. She didn't hear any of the details that Casey provided just the jumbled voices in the background and sirens in the distance.

"Where is he?" she asked stoically.

"He's at Bellevue. He's—"

She hung up the phone and began to gather her belongings.

Fin ran up to her hanging up his phone. "Did you hear?"

"Yeah." He watched her for a moment a little concerned about how stoic she was.

"I'll drive you there come on."

XXXX

When the elevators opened on the hospital floor, Olivia was still in a daze. Fin talked to Cragen on the ride to the hospital and he assured them both that Elliot and John had minor injuries and were fine. Fin decided to stop on the way and get John's favorite milkshake to smuggle in for him while Olivia tried hard to not be frantic and rush him. She needed to be by his side.

"Hey I'm going to check on John," Fin said walking towards his room. He stopped and touched her arm while she stared into the room the nurses told her was Elliot's. "Hey you ok?"

"Yeah." She forced a smile. "I'm fine."

"He's going to be ok."

She nodded her head and bit her lip to try to stop the tears from flowing. Her reaction was out of character and she worried that she was giving everything about their relationship away. She gave him a pat on his arm to assure him and he walked to John's room.

She walked into the room and saw that he was sleeping. She slowly approached the bed and saw that although he was hooked up to an IV, there weren't any other machines in the room and his arm was wrapped up. She watched him breathe in and out softly and put her hand gently on his cast. She exhaled and closed her eyes trying to calm herself. She was so worked up and she willed herself to pull it together. This was a part of their job, there was always the chance that he could be hurt but the stakes were higher now.

This was different.

They were different.

"Hey," he rasped in a groggy voice snapping her out of her thoughts.

She ran her hands through the stubble on his cheek. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got shot," he teased. He hoped it would bring a smile to her face but she looked worried and continued to rub his cast. "Liv," he took her hand in his. "I'm okay I promise."

He didn't bother to tell her that he could've been killed if it wasn't for the undercover FBI agent that killed Kyle Ackerman before he got another shot off.

He pulled her close to him wrapping his right arm around her waist. "And John is ok. He got shot in the ass though. At least my ass is safe considering how much you like it."

That successfully got a laugh from her. "There you go. It's ok. I talked to the doctor and they are letting me go first thing in the morning. They are only keeping me for observation."

She held him close for a few more moments keeping her eyes on the door before walking to close the curtain to make sure that no one saw how they were interacting.

"Do you want me to call Kathy?" she asked out of habit. She moreso wanted the kids to know so they could visit him.

"No."

"El, don't be like th—"

He put his good hand up to stop her. "No Liv. We are getting divorced. I have the person here that should be here."

"You are divorced."

"What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"Kathy came by the station today to drop off the final papers she got from her attorney. You are officially divorced," she announced and waited for his reaction.

He moved over in his bed to allow her room to sit on the edge next to him. "How did that go? She gave the papers to you?"

She sat down carefully leaning into him and he drew light caresses on her back. "Yeah. I thought it was a little odd but I guess it was either me or Fin so…"

He listened intently and allowed her to go on. "I think she was probably sending me a message."

"And what was that?"

"She told me it was time for all of us to move on."

He reached up running his hand through her hair and grabbed her hand and kissed it. "She's right. I couldn't have said it better myself. It's hard to think of a twenty year marriage ending and I don't know that I won't ever stop feeling like I failed but she's right."

Olivia put her hand over his and sighed contently.

"So you guys didn't get into a mud wrestling match over me?" he joked and she laughed again.

"You really are an asshole you know that?"

"It made you smile though didn't it?"

"Yeah," she said sadly. "I was scared El." Her voice was full of unshed tears and he put his lips to her forehead.

"I told you I'm not going anywhere. I promise. You are stuck with me." She lay across him as best she could without disturbing his cast and not putting all of her weight on him. He held her tight and kissed her hair.

"So speaking of being stuck with me. I'm injured so I'm going to need you to take care of me."

She rolled her eyes and sat up shifting her weight to her elbow. "Oh really? And what does that involve?"

"Well I'm going to have to come to your house because I can't be on my own and I'm going to need you to coo—I mean order me takeout."

She slapped him on the chest.

"Ouch."

"Keep up the jokes about my cooking and you are going to be happy you are already in a hospital."

He took a piece of her hair and twirled it in his hand while she watched him closely. She had no idea how close she was to losing him but she was thankful to be there with him quietly in the moment, enjoying his company.

"So what else am I going to have to do?" she indulged him.

"Well the nurses said I can't take showers so I'm going to need you to give me a bath every night. I like my water a certain temperature, not too hot, not too cold but don't worry I'll walk you through that."

"You must be on some really strong meds," she joked. "Now why would I be doing all this?"

"Because. You are my woman and that's what a woman does for her man," he explained in his best Neanderthal sounding voice.

"Your woman hunh? Would you mind stepping into this century please?" she laughed and laid her head next to his.

"I'm serious. My divorce is final so I want us to be official or whatever that is. How do you do this?" he asked and she laughed at him.

"Oh El. You really are rusty at this whole dating thing." She got up took off her jacket and boots and got comfortable. He breathed a sigh of relief that she was staying with him and that Kathy showing up to the precinct hadn't scared her off.

"Well why don't you educate me Miss Benson on how it all works. Last time I asked someone to be my girlfriend I slid her a note in math class."

She got back on the bed and settled in. "I don't know I think I'm a little old to be considered your girlfriend."

"Well I don't know what you call it as long as it's understood that it's you and me. Together." He lifted his head to meet her eyes. "Ok?"

"Ok." She kissed him on the lips to seal the deal. "So what do we do about work?"

He exhaled and thought carefully. The truth is he had no idea what to do about them and work. He didn't want to partner with anyone else but he knew if they came clean there was a good chance Cragen would split them up.

"Can we shelve that one until I'm all healed?"

"Absolutely," she agreed.

"So," he said pressing the button to push his bed back so they could get more comfortable. "We have my bath covered, staying at your place for a few days, my meals covered and what else? Oh yeah. You have to perform all of these duties naked."

She giggled. "Oh really?"

"Yep," he said proudly. "Also, I hear that sex is a good alternative to pain medication."

"So let me get this straight. You can't feed yourself, bathe yourself or be at your own place but you can have sex?"

He grinned mischievously. "Crazy how that works isn't it?"

"El. Go to sleep," she laughed and snuggled into him.

She thought he was dozing off when he was quiet but he started to stroke her arm slowly. "I love you so much Liv."

"I love you too." She kissed his chest. "Now seriously go to sleep."

XXXX

Olivia walked out of the room to get some coffee while the nurse changed Elliot's IV bag and took his vitals. She ran into Fin at the coffee station.

"Hey how's John?"

He shrugged. "Better now since I got him that milkshake but you know I can't let him live down that he was shot in the ass."

They both chuckled and she took a sip of her coffee.

"How's Elliot doing?"

She sighed and stirred the liquid around in the cup. "He's just fine. It really wasn't as bad as I thought. I was just freaking out over nothing I guess."

"I told you he was alright."

"Yeah you were right," she agreed and gave him a small smile.

He patted her on the back. "But I get it. It's different when you get the call about the one you love."

Her head shot up at his statement and he winked at her and walked away.

She exhaled deeply and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

He knew.

All of this time Fin knew which meant they were going to have to deal with the work situation sooner rather than later.

XXXXX

Author's Note: Thank you guys for the continued reviews. Glad to see you all are enjoying it. This one will wrap up in a few more chapters.