2. The Line They Never Crossed

Olivia finished another frustrating call with McGrath. Why the hell did it always seem like he reamed her with every phone call. She let out a frustrated sigh and pulled a few files from her desk drawers.

After finding her reading glasses she began reading through the never ending paperwork. Making captain was the best thing for her and Noah, but she often drowned in the bureaucratic paperwork and missed the excitement of working in the field.

She focused intently on reading some preliminary reports and didn't notice the sound of the door opening and closing. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice startled her from the other side of her desk. "Liv?"

She placed a hand to her chest, "Damn it Elliot, make a sound or something."

He held out a cup of coffee. She grabbed it, still a little miffed. As she took a sip Elliot pulled a chair up to her desk.

For a while the sat there with the silence thickening. Finally Olivia had enough, "Are you here for a reason?"

His eyes crinkled as a smile came across his face, "Bad day?" He knew he shouldn't find any joy in her frustration, but there was something comforting in her bluntness. It reminded him of a time where they didn't dance around each other walking on eggshells. A time when they could just be.

She let out a frustrated sigh, "Less of a bad day and more of a bad boss."

"What now?" Everyone on the force knew McGrath was a prick.

"He wants me to sweep a case under the rug because it involves some high up officials within the city." She sipped her coffee.

"Did he say that exactly?"

"No, he's not an idiot. He just strongly urged me to consider the validity of the complainant's accusations." She shook her head, frustration mounting.

"In other words your victim is a prostitute and he doesn't think it's worth the time and political fallout to pursue." Elliot understood her frustration. They encountered this problem frequently at SVU.

"Exactly." Her eyes dropped as the feeling of defeat overpowered the frustration.

"Hey, come here." He stretched out his hand and led her to the couch in her office. "Look, you know you can still pursue."

Olivia became acutely aware of his hand still entertwined with hers, but the gesture felt nice, natural. "It's not as easy as you think. When we were detectives we could investigate quietly and ask Cragen for forgiveness later." She shrugged. "Now I'm the one who has to hold the hard line ya know?"

Elliot understood. This dilemma was exactly why he never pursued any sort of promotion. Detectives have more freedom to bend the rules. Heaven knows he needed a place where he could push boundaries. "Yeah I can understand that."

Liv smiled. "Do you remember back when I first found out about Simon? You followed me to Jersey and we got busted. I thought for sure Cragen was going to kill us."

"I had to cover your ass big time on that one." He chuckled.

"Not like I hadn't covered for you 100s of times." Liv laughed.

"True. We crossed a lot of lines when we were partners."

Suddenly the air around them felt stiff with tension as Liv whispered, "Well, there was one line we never crossed." Her eyes met his.

Elliot felt his heart pounding and breath quicken at her implication. He sat frozen, waiting for her to move.

"I think I'm ready to finally cross that line." She let out a nervous breath, but I'm scared."

Elliot placed his hand on her cheek pulling her face closer to his. "Don't worry," he murmured, "I'll always have your back."

He closed the space between them, softly kissing her lip. She let out a soft sigh of contentment before bringing her lips back to his tentatively at first, but rapidly increasing in passion. His arms came around her and he pulled her impossibly closer. Remembering she was still at work, she pulled away, eyes still filled with longing. "Uh," she let out a nervous laugh, "we might need to pick this up later."

A breathy laugh tumbled from his lips. "When's later?" His lips still sat impossibly close to hers.

"Um," her brain felt broken from his intoxicating presence, "tonight? Pick me up in a couple hours?"

"I'll be here." He lightly kissed her lips before pulling away. As he got up and made his way to the door he added, "I'll always be here."

She knew what he meant. She knew that he wanted her to know he was staying, never leaving, and the thought warmed her to the core. She stood up to get back to her desk, but her only thought was, Later can't come soon enough.