A/N: This is the next part to the last chapter titled 'The Cruise' and there will be a third part to it. I don't own any of the characters.

Getting Closer

It had been over a month since they returned from their cruise. Olivia and Hank had begun texting each other regularly to see how their respective days were going. Hank wanted to surprise Olivia and Noah, so he made arrangements to go to New York for the weekend. He took the day off and had a late morning flight. By the time the flight arrived in New York, he got his luggage and his rental and decided to get checked into the hotel. Once he got checked in and got settled, he headed over to the Precinct. He had hoped Olivia was there. When he arrived, he got out of his car and went in. He was directed to SVU and went up. Their squad room was a lot bigger than what he was used to.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Captain Benson."

"Are you Sergeant Voight?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I'm Sergeant Odafin Tutuola but people call me Fin. This is Detective Amanda Rollins and Officer Kat Tamin."

"Nice to meet all of you."

"Nice to meet you too Sergeant. We've heard a lot about you from Liv."

"Oh, you have, huh?"

"Yep."

"Is she here?"

"She's in her office. Right in there."

"Thanks."

Hank went to knock on Olivia's door.

"Come on in."

Hank opened the door.

"Hank, this is a surprise!"

"I probably should have called."

"It's fine. I'm glad you're here. Noah will be happy to see you too."

Olivia got up and went over to hug Hank.

"Did you meet my squad?"

"I did. You busy?"

"On and off. I'm actually leaving soon to go get Noah at school. Why don't we meet somewhere for dinner?"

"That sounds like a plan. I'll go back to the hotel and then you can let me know when and where to meet you."

"Ok."

Hank told Olivia where he was staying and then walked out of her office.

"It was nice meeting all of you."

"You too."

Hank left and headed back to the hotel. Olivia left and went to get Noah at school. Noah got out of school and came running out.

"Mom, can I sleep over at Jeremy's tonight?"

"Hank is in town. Don't you want to see him?"

"Yeah but I can do that tomorrow."

They saw Jeremy and his mom and Olivia told her she would drop Noah off once he got his stuff. They went home and Noah got his stuff together, while Olivia freshened up a bit. Olivia texted Hank and told him that it would just be the two of them because Noah was sleeping over at a friend's house. She also told him she would pick him up at his hotel. He replied back that he was fine with that. Once they were both ready, Olivia dropped Noah off and then went to Hank's hotel. She got out of her SUV and went up to his room. She knocked on the door and then Hank answered it.

"Hey."

"Hey. Come on in."

"Thanks."

Olivia went in and then she sat down, while Hank sat down next to her.

"So, how are things going?"

"Not too bad. Work has been crazy at times."

"I know that feeling. I've been thinking about coming to Chicago when Noah is out of school."

"Let me know."

"I will. Are you ok?"

"I'm kind of nervous."

"Why?"

"I've been thinking about you a lot since we met."

"I've been thing a lot about you too, so there is really nothing to be nervous about."

"There is if I've been thinking about wanting be in a relationship with you and I haven't been in a relationship with anyone since my wife."

"I've been thinking the same thing. We really seemed to hit it off. I'm glad our paths crossed on the cruise."

"I am too."

Hank really wanted to kiss Olivia but he didn't know if he should. They both started inching closer to each other.

"Hank."

"Yeah."

"Kiss me."

"I wasn't sure I should."

"Just do it."

They leaned into each other and Hank gently kissed her.

"Not bad."

"You're not so bad yourself."

They kissed again and then they headed to the restaurant. They arrived at the restaurant and waited for their table. Once they were seated and had their order taken, they waited for their food.

"So, how do we want to do this?"

"What?"

"Are we going to try to be in a relationship?"

"I'm willing to try if you are."

"I'm willing to try too. I just hope we can do the long distance thing."

"The long distance thing is new for me. I couldn't deal with being in a relationship with someone in the same city."

"It can't hurt to at least try, right? If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work."

"Right. My son thought we liked each other from the time we met."

"He's not wrong."

"No, he's not."

"Just so you know, I'm not into one night stands. When I'm in a relationship, I'm in it for the long haul."

"That is good to know. I'm getting too old for one night stands anyway. At this point in time, I just really want to find someone to settle down with. I could never see that happening with any of my exes. At one point, I thought about it with Brian. I did end up having a pregnancy scare with him but he could be pretty immature, so I'm not sure I could have spent the rest of my life with him. I definitely couldn't have seen myself spending the rest of my life with Ed."

"Who was the one with IAB?"

"That was Ed. I'm not even sure what I was thinking when I started seeing him. He did leave IAB for me though. I need to not get involved with anyone who has worked or currently works for the NYPD."

"How did that happen anyway?"

"Well, he had become supportive of me with all the drama I had with Noah's adoption and then I ended up being held hostage when I walked into a situation at the request of Lucy, Noah's nanny. The other family she worked for was acting strangely when she showed up to take the son to school, so she asked me to look into it. I did and it turned out they were being held hostage. The one in charge asked me who cared enough about my life and had a lot of pull within the NYPD. I ended up contacting Ed and afterward, he kept checking up on me. It was just something that sort of happened. I knew he was just doing his job when he investigated me or other members of my squad but he turned out to be pretty supportive. When my Sergeant was killed, I completely expected Ed to investigate it but he didn't. It was after that when he told me that he was transferring out of IAB and wanted to take Noah and me to Paris. Around the time we had been together about a year, he told me that he was thinking about retiring and wanted me to think about it too. I really wasn't ready and I needed to focus on my son, so we broke up. He never retired but we haven't necessarily kept in touch. That was 3 years ago. I need to make more of an effort to spend some quality time with my son, so that was basically the reason we went on the cruise. I wanted to spend time with him without my job getting in the way. Sometimes I tell him we will have dinner together and then I don't get home because work gets in the way. Then by the time I get home, he's in bed and I get an attitude from him the next time I see him. It hurts when he says that he sometimes wishes Lucy was his mom but then there are times when I deserve it."

"I can understand that. I wasn't the best father to Justin before Camille died but our relationship was worse after she died. I really was proud of him though."

"Do you regret not having more kids?"

"Sometimes. When Camille told me she was pregnant, she was actually carrying twins. Justin was healthy but his twin sister was a stillborn. That was heartbreaking."

"Oh, wow! I'm so sorry."

"Thanks. I wish I had a daughter though. Erin, one of the detectives that was in my unit was like a daughter to me. Camille and I took her in when she was 15 because her mother was a piece of work. She took a job with the FBI here in New York but I haven't heard from her since she left Chicago. I know someone contacted her when Al died but no one has heard from her. It is what it is."

"I know how that goes. The partner I had for 12 years was involved in a shooting in the squad room. He ended up killing a teenage girl and then retired without saying a word. I thought I would have heard from him after what I had gone through with William Lewis but I didn't."

"Were you ever romantically involved with this guy?"

"No. He was married and had 5 kids. His wife was jealous of me and his oldest son even asked me if I had slept with him. I don't want to be the reason for the breakup of someone's marriage nor would I have ever crossed that line with him. We were best friends and partners. That's it. His wife referred to me as his work wife."

"Erin was in a relationship with her partner and I wasn't happy about it. I think Jay has grown so much as a cop, since Erin left. He has become my #2 because he has seniority over everyone else in the unit."

"After Elliot left, started climbing the ranks. After our Sergeant retired, my Captain asked me to take the Sergeant's exam and then Ed wanted me to take the Lieutenant's exam because the higher ups didn't want a Sergeant running SVU. My former boss was being transferred to Staten Island to Pedestrian and Traffic Enforcement and he said he would do it on the condition that I was promoted to Captain. I had asked Fin to take the Sergeant's exam when I took the Lieutenant's exam but he wasn't thrilled. He hasn't been a Sergeant all that long."

"I was promoted to Sergeant when they gave me my job back after I got out of prison, which is when they put me in charge of Intelligence. Just before Justin died, I was offered a meritorious promotion to Lieutenant, which I declined because they wanted to take me off the streets. I don't give a shit about where I rank. I never have."

"I never did either."

Their salads arrived and a little while later, their food arrived. They talked while they ate and enjoyed being in each other's company. They had dessert and after Hank paid the bill, they left. It was a nice night, so they decided to go for a walk. She took Hank's hand even though she didn't know if she should. Hank was surprised she did but he had actually thought about wanting to hold her hand but he wasn't sure it was a good idea. He was glad they had kissed earlier and a part of him wanted more but he didn't want to rush into things. Olivia was beginning to awaken feelings in him that he hadn't felt in a very long time. After they had walked for a while, they went to Olivia's SUV and she took him back to the hotel.

To be continued…

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