Will the story of our future be a new tune or the same old song?

-Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics, "It's About Time."

"Cassidy."

He turned expectantly towards the older man's voice with a faint smile. But Munch wasn't in his line of vision.

She was.

She looked softer, fuller—both in the face and body. He admired how her hips swayed as she approached him. There was a confidence in her step, almost a swagger, but more agile than arrogant. And a slight smirk on her face. Not a smirk, really, more like a sad smile. Perhaps she regretted how things ended between them all those years ago.

A man could hope, couldn't he?

"You look exactly the same," Munch continued and positioned himself behind the younger detectives.

He smiled at his friend's comment. John meant well, but Brian knew he looked like shit, and he wasn't even in front of a mirror. He didn't need one. Ganzel had been coked out of his gourd and paranoid as fuck. He had him up all night sweeping the joint for bugs. He caught two hours of shut eye in between Ganzel's 3 am and 5 am binges.

Cocksucker.

He looked rough. He could still feel the morning crust in his eyes and in the corners of his mouth.

"No I don't," he chuckled. "You look good, Johnny."

"No I don't," the gray-haired detective replied matter-of-factly.

"Liv," he said, giving her his full attention.

The afternoon sun filtered through her hair and illuminated her face as she turned to face him. He wanted to freeze time to snap a picture of her. She gave him a thorough once over.

"How's your captain?" he asked her.

"Keeping it together," she replied and kept her gaze on him. She seemed just as fascinated by him as he was of her. Her voice was all business, but her eyes reflected a bit of mischief.

C'mon guy. Don't kid yourself. That ship has long sailed.

Or had it?

"We're trying to figure out why Carissa went to see him. You think she knows something about the governor's murder?" Munch asked.

"My working theory? She did it." Brian said.

"For Ganzel?" Munch asked.

"I don't have proof, but that night, she wasn't at the loft and Ganzel was acting real squirrely, even for him.

"Any way he cleaned house, took Carissa out?" she asked.

"No, no way, not a chance. Zero. He was genuinely in love with her." He paused and his eyes lingered on her lips for a second. "He's a wreck." Brian said.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Munch intently watching their interaction. He knew that the older man picked up on that pause. Not just because he was a good detective, but because he knew their history. You don't become a conspiracy nut by ignoring details.

"OK, then. Who did it?" Munch asked.

"My money's on Delia. Look, she frames Cragen and hurts Ganzel. It's a twofer" he said, looking straight at Olivia.

"The other night you said that Cragen's name came up on the wiretap. Is he one of the targets on your undercover op?" she asked.

There was a hard edge to her voice. One that didn't exist when they worked together, back when they were still wide-eyed and foolish enough to believe that they could rid the streets of scum. She had the voice of a cop who had been put through the ringer one too many times.

They had both been around the block more times than either cared to recall. The only difference was she held up her badge for all to see, while his was hidden in plain sight, shrouded under a layer of eight balls, booze and whores.

But the fast life had lost its luster, and his three-year undercover stint was starting to wear thin. Especially now that Carissa was gone.

He didn't know how the fuck she endured SVU as long as she had. Christ, he hadn't even survived a year before the nightmares swallowed him whole and spit him out. Cragen knew he didn't have the stomach for sex crimes and after his former rabbi put in a good word for him in Narcotics, he never looked back.

Olivia is a tough woman. He admired that about her. She was no damsel in distress. Knowing her, she'd save the damsel herself before the knight had a chance to suit up.

That's my girl.

"No. And don't ask me who is," he said with a hint of a warning in his voice.

She stared at him with surprise in her eyes. He could see her mouth instinctively open to fire off a rebuttal, but she thought better of it and bit her tongue instead. She wasn't the only one who had grown hard over the years. She'd have to forget about the impressionable rookie he once was and adjust to the cop he had become.

He'd see to it that they had a chance to get to know each other all over again.