Hope you enjoy!

Dick Wolf owns everything.

Only One Girl in this Bar

Olivia waited at the bar for Jim. The place had started to fill up. People on dates ending their dinner and a movie, grabbing a nightcap.

Elliot watched her leaning into the bar, one foot propped up on the bottom of a bar stool. He let his eyes roam over her legs and up the curve of her ass, a little bit of skin showing where her sweater had ridden up.

Goddamn she was beautiful… no wonder Kathy had been nervous the first time she saw Liv.

They had been partners for about three months the first time he invited her over for dinner. They had gotten through the formalities of being new partners, worked some tough cases, and he was sitting at his desk telling her about the latest drama with Maureen and the trouble Dickie always seemed to get himself into and he looked up at her and she was just beaming.

He'd never seen a smile like hers. In their line of work there's not much to smile about but up until now she'd smirk at him and offer a soft smile when he was upset.

Nothing like this though. She was glowing listening to him talk about his kids. The way her eyes sparkled, her beautiful white teeth showing, and those lips pulled into a wide smile. Her laugh, so genuine… she was connected to him, taking in every detail… really… listening to him.

It took his breath away and his train of thought for a second when he realized just how easy it was to talk to her… how much he actually liked talking to her… wanted to talk to her… about his kids… his life…

He felt like he could talk to her about anything.

Before he knew what he was saying he found himself inviting her to dinner. Told her he'd love for her to meet them. That they would love her.

Of course, she protested, not wanting to intrude on his time with them, but he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

He promised he'd give her a ride back home; it was no biggie. Still, she was stubborn though.

"Come on Liv… I want you to come."

Those words he spoke softly to her had sealed it. She had sighed and looked at him, both of them already knowing what her answer was.

He had called Kathy on his way, who wasn't too happy about it, but said she'd make do. And when they got there, and Kathy saw her for the first time… it was a little uncomfortable. Of course, she was gracious, and kind, but he could tell immediately Liv made her nervous.

That night had been great. His kids absolutely loved Liv. She let them show her everything, pictures, and drawing as they dragged her around his house. They begged her to stay and play a game with them after dinner, and then fought over who's team she was going to be on… and the whole time that smile never left her face.

The conversation never stopped when he drove her home. She asked him all kinds of things about his kids, and it was so… so easy. Easy to talk to her, let his fatherly pride show, it was like they had known each other for years… like best friends catching up. But there was something else there too.

When she hopped out of his car and told him thank you and she'd see him tomorrow, he felt a tug deep in his belly. He watched her walk up her step and shouted to blink her lights when she got up to her apartment. She turned and gave him that look… the one he knows so very well now, but he waited… and she blinked her lights.

When he got home the conversation was… well tense. Kathy baited him, saying things like, well Olivia seems nice… is she married? I didn't see a wedding band. Why didn't you tell me she was so beautiful?

He wasn't in the mood for a fight, so he answered as simply as he could, trying not to let on how much her interrogation bothered him… trying not let on that all he could think about was Liv and what she was doing.

As El sat there letting that memory flood his mind while he watched Liv at the bar, it hit him. That was when it had happened. That night… watching her with his kids… talking with her, and that moment she turned and smiled at him on her way up her steps. That tug he felt… that was it. The moment he knew. He knew deep in his heart, in his soul that this woman was meant to be in his life. He didn't understand these feelings at the time, but now he knew.

That was the night he fell in love with her.

That was when it happened…

He had always wondered when… when he had fallen in love with her. After Gitano he knew he loved her. His actions in the train station had shown his true feelings, and he had used anger to cover it up. It had shaken him to his core… the thought of losing her. Maybe it was out of survival that he wouldn't let himself think about when it really happened for him, this love, because it wasn't like he could do anything about it.

He was married.

She was his partner.

But now… he was single.

It was a startling revelation. Only three months of knowing her and he had fallen. But it had taken him seven years to realize it, and another three years to finally… well… do something about it.

And he was going to do something about it.

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

Liv was waiting patiently for Jim to run to the back and get that special microbrew he stocked sometimes for her. It was the only thing she found out in Oregon that she missed. The second she tasted it, it reminded her of Elliot. It was a strong amber, with subtle hints of cherry, and a soft smooth finish.

She found it one time here back at home, a mistake in shipping, by the bodega by her apartment. She bought the whole case.

It was silly she knew… it was just a beer. But Oregon was a weird time for her. Her mind… her emotions… they were all over the place, and she couldn't get control. And the one person who could always bring her back down and stop her mind from overworking… well was the reason she ran.

She ran from him… from them… from herself.

And every time she felt like she couldn't breathe… like she couldn't steady herself… every time she felt like picking up the phone and calling him, knowing she shouldn't… well couldn't really… every time she let herself miss him… she'd stop and get a nightcap at a local bar where she found something that calmed her.

Found something that reminded her of him.

And for the small amount of time as she sipped that beer, it felt like home. It felt like him.

Like he was there with her… and she could breathe. She was steady.

She never told him about that. They didn't really talk about Oregon. She had come back, and things were weird with him… he had a new partner and she felt… out of place. She was glad she was able to solve another case out there, but the whole undercover op was a bust. She had regretted leaving once she came back and saw him with her.

He had changed. He had forgone the suits… and the glimpse she had of them… of them laughing… the blonde at her desk… El smiling and looking at her like that… like he had forgotten the past… moved on… maybe even from her.

It had hurt. It had hurt more than she thought it would. But she had run from him too. They had both hurt each other.

But she had jumped at the chance to get back into SVU when Cragen had called her and told her Beck was gone. Jumped at the chance to find her way back to him, to their partnership… their friendship…

Slipping back into themselves wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. Maybe at first it was a little awkward… some bruised feelings… questions that were hanging between them, but never asked… but they made it through. And just when things were getting comfortable again, and maybe even turning a corner onto a new street… Kathy had gotten pregnant.

It had deflated her. It had deflated her hope… her hope of a chance of what could have been. She had felt stupid that she even let herself feel hope for something that wasn't going to ever happen. So, she shifted gears. Shifted into being his partner, and his friend and did her best to self soothe.

And things had gotten back to normal. They were back and if it was even possible, closer than ever. There were still lingering looks… he still was the only one who could invade her space… whisper in her ear… he was still the only man she trusted. But in her time away she learned she'd rather learn to control and manage her feelings for him, then not have him in her life.

So that's what she did. And it was working. They were working. They had gotten back in sync, their silent communication impeccable, the pieces they broke were glued back together… it was working.

It was working right up till the second she came out of that bathroom in her bra and pressed herself up against him.

And now here she was… drinking with a flirty, newly single Elliot.

She felt her cheeks flush, and her nerves hit her a little. Yea, she was going to need those shots he brought over. This was completely new territory… territory he seemed to be very comfortable in, and that scared her.

Could they do this? Be partners and be… more? It wasn't like she didn't want this… want him… but part of her mind was still stuck on the El she knew… the father, the husband… the house in Queens with a back yard and block parties.

She didn't fit into that mold. She'd never be that girl… a stay-at-home mom, a doting wife who cooked and cleaned.

If that's what he thought was going to happen, then he didn't know her as well as she thought.

She started to feel uneasy… but then she looked across the bar to the booth where they were sitting, and he was looking right at her. His eyes were piercing through her, his lips soft, with a hint of a smile… his hands clasped, his forearms on the table… just watching her.

She felt that tug low in her belly and it sent a shiver over her skin. In a bar full of people, and two young beautiful women who seemed to have eyes for him, he was looking at her.

Her heart started to pound in her chest. Normally when she caught him looking at her, he'd smirk and look away, or quickly dart his eyes somewhere else… but he wasn't doing that now. He was making no effort to hide that she was the one he saw.

"Here ya go hon," Jim said, making her jump a little.

"Thanks… keep the change." Liv said trying to shake her nerves out. She took a deep breath in and let it out as she put the four bottle necks between her fingers and made her way back over to Elliot. She could feel his eyes on her as she crossed the bar. They were burning holes right through her.

She put the bottles down on the table and slipped into her side of the booth.

"What took Jim so long?" El said as he took one of the beers and looked at the label. "Was he brewing it back there?"

Liv chuckled at him and took her own bottle and brought it to her lips taking a short sip. She watched him read the label. He had just laid out a pretty big hand by telling her at a bar he was newly single, so now maybe… it was her turn. Her turn to test these waters… be… vulnerable.

"No… it's from a microbrewery out in Oregon. He occasionally stocks them for me here…"

Liv immediately saw the hurt flash in his eyes at the mention of the O word. She could tell he was reliving a little bit of that time, which wasn't what she wanted. So she quickly said something she knew would pull him back to her.

"I found it when I was out there… it… it reminded me of you…"

His eyes immediately shot up to meet hers. Liv felt her breath hitch in her throat a little, and her lips parted as her breathing picked up. They sat there for a second or two that seemed like years, and she watched his eyes soften.

"It did?" he asked, his voice low as his lips curled up into a little smile. "So, you thought about me out there huh?"

Liv rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't keep the smile from her face. She felt her cheeks start to flush again, and maybe it was the alcohol, but she knew it had more to do with the blue eyes sitting across from her… flirting with her.

Normally this was where it would end… well it would have never gotten this far, she wouldn't have let it, but on the rare occasion they went to a bar after work and drank together, this was where she would end it. She'd say something like she had a mountain of laundry to do, or remind him he had things at home he promised Kathy he'd do… but this time… this time there was no "laundry"… there was no Kathy… no reason to stop.

So, she answered honestly.

"Yes… I did." She said to her beer bottle, but then lifted her lashes to meet his gaze.

His eyes shot right through her. If she didn't look away soon, she was going to melt right into this booth. They were searing her… full of intensity and heat. She was starting to crumble.

So she cleared her throat and shifted in her seat breaking their eye contact.

El felt it too. This was… getting intense. Everything about them was intense, their whole history was intense and heavy… but he didn't want to send her running to the hills. He needed to slow things down… keep himself under some control, but not total.

Never again. He wanted to feel everything with her. He wanted to be honest and really talk to her… talk to her about all things they kept shelved and tucked away. So, he was going to have to push them past this little dance they always did. She seemed ready too. Telling him she thought about him in Oregon was a big step for her.

The second those words left her lips he wanted to reach across the table and pull her to him and kiss her. If she hadn't broken their eye contact when she did… another second more and he just might have.

But he needed some control.

It was going to be hard because every inch of her was driving him wild… she had always done that to him, but he never let himself feel it. Now that he was free to feel… and think… and want… it was going to be hard to tamp it down. But he couldn't ruin this. So slow and steady was going to be his game… slow and steady.

He brought the bottle to his lips and tasted this beer… Liv's beer… the one that reminded her of him. It was good. It had a nice body to it, and a smooth finish… a hint of something sweet… cherry maybe he thought.

"It's good… I like it Liv." He said and took another drink. He leaned back in the booth as he set his beer down. He wanted nothing but to close the space between them, but he knew her, and he knew when she needed some space.

She smiled at him. He knew she was getting a little overwhelmed by all this… and she was thankful in moments like this he could read her so well. She took a breath in and looked to the untouched shots sitting at their table with the orange wedges and cup of cinnamon/sugar mix.

"So… what exactly did you get us there?" she asked and pulled one of the shots in front of her.

A little grin crossed his face as he answered.

"Well, it's gold tequila. You take it just like a regular tequila shot… except its cinnamon and sugar first, shot, then orange." He said sliding the plate of oranges in front of them and then grabbing one of the other shots.

Elliot felt his pulse start to race when her tongue slipped out of her mouth to lick the back of her hand and she poured the sugar mixture over it. He sat there staring at her lips… her perfect lips until her voice broke his transe.

"You gonna join me here El or do I have to take all these by myself?" she asked with a sexy sly little grin on her face. She caught him red handed staring at her and he knew it. He felt a little heat creep across his skin, and did the same to his hand, and grabbed his shot.

"Cheers El…" she said holding out her shot to him.

"Cheers Liv…" he said back.

And they clinked and both licked the backs of their hands and took the shot.

It wasn't bad really. She did like tequila. She felt the crisp tingle of it as it moved down her throat, and she felt the warmth of it spread across her chest. El handed her a wedge and took one for himself. She watched him put it into his mouth and suck on the juice before she did the same.

God he was sexy. She let her eyes roam over his bare forearms and his strong hands. It was only fair since he'd been staring at her all night. She found herself wondering what those hands would feel like on other parts of her body besides her knee.

She couldn't stop thinking about how good he looked tonight. Everything about him just oozed sensuality. The way he held himself, the way his clothes clung to that chiseled body of his.

That body that had been pressed against her a month ago… the skin of his bare chest against her own bare skin. OK she was really starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. Her head was buzzing, and her skin felt tingly. She was also beginning to feel a little bolder.

Maybe this would be a mistake, and maybe she shouldn't put herself through this, but something in her wanted to know.

"So El… tell me… now that you're single, anyone here peak your interest?" she asked as innocently as she could. It was a loaded question she knew… but she was curious. He had been flirting with her all night, touching her, staring… but he had only ever been with Kathy… and maybe one or two other women when they were separated the first time. Maybe he was just flirting with her now because he could. Maybe he needed to sew some wild oats… maybe.

Elliot laughed, and those dimples of his came out and sent heat throughout her body. His eyebrow went up as he dropped his chin a little still laughing. It seemed like he was trying to find the right thing to say before he spoke.

"Well… yes." He said looked up at her before he let his eyes roam over the bar.

Olivia followed his eyes and saw the two young beautiful women who were friends with Kathleen. Her heart dropped a little. Maybe this was all nothing. Maybe he really was just flirting with her because he could now.

She didn't want him to know her disappointment, so she tried to cover it by continuing the conversation.

"Come on El… you can tell me. There's a lot of beautiful girls here… I'm sure any of them would jump at the chance to date you." She said, her voice as calm and cool as she could make it, but it had dropped off at the end.

She finished her beer and went to grab the next one knowing she should slow down. Knowing she shouldn't get too drunk with her newly single partner sitting across from her, but she needed to have something in her hands. Something to distract herself from letting the sadness seep in if he decided to tell her which one of the many, he could be interested in.

She cupped her beer and put her forearms on the table, trying to brace herself for whatever he was going to say.

"Liv…" he said and he leaned in matching her body posture as she brought her eyes to meet his.

"As far as I'm concerned there's only one girl in this bar for me…"