She felt a little more settled upon her return to the hospital. The worry that plagued her for days had receded to a manageable level. As she made her way down the hospital hallway her mind wandered to the conversation they had almost a week ago.

Blind loyalty. She thought of the serious threat she just made in the interrogation room. A threat she had no doubt she'd go through with if anything happened to Elliot. But was her loyalty blind? Or was it the result of years of trust, built from necessity, and maintained by some combination of platonic and romantic love.

Their loyalty wasn't blind because she knew him, and she trusted him. She was loyal because he earned her loyalty. Years of mutual reliance taught her she could count on him. No, her loyalty wasn't blind. Her loyalty had been carefully earned.

She made it to his room door, still a little lost in thought. She quietly pushed the door open. Elliot sat in a semi reclining position, messing around on his phone while Jet slept in the chair next to him.

She smiled and dropped her purse on the counter. His eyes lifted to hers and he returned her smile.

Olivia tilted her head towards Jet, "Your guard dog passed out on you."

He looked over and chuckled, "In her defense she's been up all hours for the past couple days."

"She's been a huge help though. I'm sure she wasn't thrilled with the babysitting assignment."

"She complains, but I don't think she minded." Elliot smiled in Jet's direction once more before reaching his hand out for Olivia.

She happily complied as he gently pulled her into the bed next to him. She kissed him quickly before laying her head on his shoulder. "You get what you needed?" He asked gently.

"Not really, but it doesn't matter. He's done either way." She felt him nod.

They sat in silence until he brushed her hair away from her face. "Where are you? You seem far away."

She rolled onto her side so she could gently lay a hand on his chest. "I'm here," she promised.

He kissed her forehead, "What are you thinking about?"

"A lot of things," she admitted.

She felt him smile before kissing the top of her head. She shifted a little closer to him. "Okay. Pick one thing."

"I was thinking about blind loyalty again." She looked up to gauge his reaction.

His brow furrowed, and she knew it was because of their last conversation on the topic. It was a little emotional. "What about it," he finally said.

"Just that, I don't think what we had was blind."

"How do you mean?" He said, obviously a little confused.

She shifted again so her chest rested against his a little. She dropped a kiss to his chest before answering. "I'm not blindly loyal to you Elliot." Now he looked all out concerned. She hurried to explain. Her hand reached for his face and her eyes intently held his. "It was never blind. I'm loyal because I know you. I know who you are, and I know without a doubt you have my back." She couldn't help but place a soft lingering kid on his lips. "You earned my trust, and respect. You earned my loyalty. It was never blind, and it was always deserved."

His hand covered hers and he brushed his thumb across her knuckles. "I'm not sure about the always deserved part. You know as well as I do that I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of." His eyes met hers again, and she read all of the regret and sorrow of their ten lost years. "I thought I broke your trust a long time ago."

She chuckled. "Elliot, for ten years I defended your actions." She squeezed his hand, "I knew people couldn't understand it. As far as everyone knew you betrayed me in the worst way, but." She bit her lip, trying to figure out how to express her next thought. "And maybe you did, but I knew there had to be some reason. I knew you wouldn't do that to me. I hated you, but I couldn't stand the thought of anyone thinking the worst of you. You were my partner." Her lips brushed his, "You will always be my partner."

He wiped back the dewy tears accumulating in her eyes. He brushed his hand over her cheek before pulling her face to his. He kissed her lightly at first. "I don't deserve you." Hie closed his eyes and brushed his lips over hers. "God I love you." He kissed her more firmly this time.

She pulled back and teased, "You better." He quickly kissed the smirk from her face, and the moment he slid his tongue into her mouth she wasn't sure she could remember her own name.

They had completely forgotten Jet's presence until they heard her complain. "Eww. Come on guys. I'm seriously right here. God."

Elliot laughed against her lips, and she pulled back completely. "Is she always that delightful?" She asked humorously.

"Always." Elliot ignored her and dropped another quick kiss on her lips.

Olivia took pity on Jet and scooted completely away from him. "Sorry," she apologized, but as expected Jet wasn't nearly as bothered by it as she made it seem.

She waved her off. "I'll get out of here and let you two get back to…" she waved her arm awkwardly, "all of that."

Elliot just laughed, and Olivia felt her cheeks flush a little at the implication. She lifted her hand in a wave as she left the room.

Once the door clicked shut, Elliot tugged on Olivia, inviting her back to where they were. "I feel a little like my kid walked in on us," she laughed.

He pulled her back to the position they had been in. "Not any worse than Noah finding you digging through the couch…pantless…"

"Oh my God. Don't remind me. Probably scarred the kid for life," she groaned.

"Eh, he'll be okay," he chuckled before kissing her again. She hummed as he deepened the kiss.

He groaned when there was a knock on the door, and she rolled a respectable distance away from him. She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. "I think we need to get you back home."

As if on cue the doctor stepped through the door, still focused on the tablet in his hands. "Let's see what we can do about getting you out of here."

Epilogue

Elliot asked Olivia to drive him to the office on his first day back. He could do it himself but his side still ached and he really wanted to make it the whole day…even if he was shoved into desk duty.

Olivia dropped him off with a quick kiss and a stern warning that if he left his desk she would know, and she would happily kick his injured ass when he got home. She kindly reminded him that in his current physical state it wouldn't be hard to follow through on the threat. He smiled and waved, and part of him wanted to test that threat. Just a little.

He could hear Whelan bickering with Jet before he even turned the corner in the hallway. He ignored it and shuffled past Reyes to his desk. He was about to sit, but Jet's eyes caught sight of him first. She smirked in his direction before throwing Jamie under the bus. "Hey Stabler, our friend Whelan here has spent the last few weeks asking everyone in the NYPD if you were sleeping with Captain Benson…"

Whelan's eyes widened which told Elliot there was at least some truth in the statement. That and how fast Whelan took off. He actually didn't care, after all, he was sleeping with her, but apparently Jamie pissed Jet off enough to use the information against him. He figured he'd make it look good. He pushed his desk chair away and started after Whelan.

"Stabler! I swear to God if you reopen that wound…!" Bell's voice faded off as he chased Whelan down the stairs and into the open parking lot.

I hope you all enjoyed this one!! I almost added another chapter, but it felt like it was finished here! Thanks for all your comments and encouragement! You are what makes this whole process fun!! Keep following if you want to have potential BONUS SCENES!!