Olivia and Rafael's apartment felt smaller now, the walls closing in as they dismantled the life they had built there. Cardboard boxes crowded every corner, filled with pieces of a life they very much were grateful for but still had never fully belonged to them. The air was thick with dust and the scent of old coffee grounds from the kitchen. Olivia peeled tape off a roll with a sharp, sticky rip and sealed another box of books.

Rafael was quieter than usual. He moved methodically through the space as he dusted all the empty shelves and cabinets. He picked up one of the framed photos they'd displayed on their credenza - a sunset over the National Mall, a moment that had felt like a promise at the time. Now, it felt like a memory of something left undone.

"We should leave all the furniture," Olivia said as she stuffed the last of her blouses into a half-zipped suitcase. "Feels too much like carrying ghosts."

Rafael nodded, running a hand along the edge of the couch. It was where they had curled up on so many nights, half-asleep while waiting for the other to come home. He let out a quiet breath. "Yeah. Let's leave it all."

The apartment was just a shell now. Soon, this chapter of their lives would be too.

They lay in bed that night, the room stripped bare except for their bodies against the sheets. The window was open, letting in the distant murmur of suburbia they had once thought they could make home. Olivia stared at the ceiling, her fingers tracing idle circles against Rafael's ribs. "What now?" she murmured.

Rafael sighed. "You tell me."

"A part of me still can't believe we're going back home."

Their old jobs at the District Attorney's Office and the NYPD were still there, if they wanted them. The marshals had quietly reached out to Jack McCoy and Cragen, who were more than happy to welcome their star employees back like they hadn't missed a single day. The lives they had left behind were still waiting - at least, the pieces of them that hadn't been lost when the gunshots flew their way that Chelsea night.

"I miss it," she admitted. "But I don't know if I can go back to it the same way."

Rafael shifted onto his side, watching her. "Then we don't. We do it on our terms."

New York had always been waiting for them. The question was how they wanted to return.

"Where are we even going to live?" she laughed. "I'm sure our old apartments are off the market - and being the discerning person you are, I doubt you'll want the marshals to find a place for us."

"You're right about that," he chuckled in response. "How does Brooklyn sound?"

"Raf, I've lived in Manhattan all my life. We've worked in Manhattan."

"Plenty of people live in Brooklyn and commute to Manhattan. Hey, I used to live in Brooklyn Heights."

Olivia let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. "You're really trying to sell me on Brooklyn, huh?"

"At least I'm not suggesting we move to Queens." Rafael smirked, fingers trailing absentmindedly down her spine. "I just think Brooklyn would be a nice change of scenery. A fresh start, but still… us." He hesitated, then admitted, "Somewhere quieter. Not the Upper West Side kind of quiet, but something different."

She rolled onto her side and propped herself up on one elbow. "You're picturing tree-lined streets and brownstones, aren't you?"

He didn't deny it, just gave her a look that said, And you wouldn't like that?

She sighed, pretending to think it over. "I mean, I'd prefer a doorman building in Tribeca, but—"

Rafael groaned and pressed his forehead to her shoulder. "Tribeca," he muttered dramatically. "Why do I even try?"

Olivia laughed as she ran a hand through his hair, nails scratching lightly at his scalp. "We'll figure it out," she murmured. "I just want to be somewhere that feels like home again."

"Then that's what we'll find."

For a while, they just lay there, listening to the distant hush of Bethesda beyond the open window. The silence in this apartment was unlike anything they would get in New York, and Olivia knew that, come next week, she would wake to the sound of honking cabs and neighbors arguing in the hallway. She would miss this - this limbo they had lived in, where time had slowed and the world had shrunk to just the two of them.

But it was time. New York was calling their names, and it was time for them to answer that call.

Rafael's fingers traced slow, soothing lines along her back. "Are you scared?"

She closed her eyes. "A little."

He kissed her forehead, then her temple, before tucking her into his chest. "Me too."

They weren't the same people who had left New York, and they wouldn't be returning to the same lives. But maybe, if they were lucky, they could build something even better.

Olivia exhaled slowly and pressed a kiss to his collarbone. "At least one thing's different this time."

He hummed in question, his hand still tracing slow circles against her skin.

She lifted her head just enough to meet his gaze. "We're going back together."

His expression softened, something like relief flickering through his eyes. "Yeah," he murmured. "No more pretending. No more tiptoeing around it."

She thought about the way they had left New York: lying in hospital beds while their friends mourned their sudden "deaths", both of them battered and broken, uncertain of where they stood with each other beyond the raw, desperate need to survive. Back then, everything had been unspoken. A tension neither of them dared name.

But now, there was no more limbo. No more burner cell conversations and texts. No more sneaking into the city with the marshals, half the squad, and Rita watching them closely.

Olivia reached for his hand and laced their fingers together. "We're not just going back," she said softly. "We're coming home. As a team. As… us."

Rafael kissed her lips and smiled, a quiet promise in the gesture. "Yeah," he murmured. "Us."

They knew that was more than enough.

Their last morning in Bethesda was overcast, the air heavy with summer heat. Olivia and Rafael walked the streets they'd come to memorise, saying goodbye in ways they couldn't put into words.

The diner where they spent hours chatting over coffee and pancakes. The ledge at Great Falls Park that'd heard their deepest, darkest secrets. The Westfield mall where they'd laughed away many a joyful afternoon while browsing the shelves at Macy's. The Best Buy where Rafael uttered "I love you" to her for the first time.

There was no ceremony to it, no final moment of closure. Just the simple act of leaving; of knowing that this city would continue without them.

They stopped by the coffeeshop, their usual orders arriving without them needing to ask. The baristas didn't know they were leaving; didn't know this was the last time. It felt strange to exist in that limbo - to be so ready to move on, but to still be there, drinking coffee in a place that would slowly begin to forget them.

Olivia gripped her cup a little tighter. Rafael took her hand.

"Time to go," he said.

But they didn't go just yet. Not immediately.

Instead, they walked home, through the streets they had once traced like an escape route. The places that had once been refuges, then simply routines. Bethesda wasn't their forever home, but it had been kind to them. It had given them a place to hide when they needed it most. It had given them space to breathe, to heal. And somewhere along the way, it had given them each other.

By the time they reached their apartment, the sun had begun its slow descent, casting long shadows against the pavement. Their home for the past two years was already fully packed into boxes, their life here neatly contained and ready to be left behind.

Olivia lingered at the doorway, taking their apartment in one last time. Their belongings were packed, but traces of them remained. The scuff marks on the hardwood from when Rafael had tripped over her heels. The faint coffee stain on the counter from a morning neither of them had been awake enough to function properly. The couch where they had spent so many early mornings reading the Washington Post and late nights tangled up in each other.

She sighed, a quiet, bittersweet sound. "Bethesda was good to us, wasn't it?"

Rafael stepped up behind her and affectionately wrapped an arm around her waist. "Yeah," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her lips. "It really was."

They would leave in the morning - Blake would be waiting to drive them back to the city. But for one last night, they would be here. One final moment in the life that had held them so gently before they returned to the one they'd left behind.

As Olivia drifted into slumber, she leaned into Rafael without hesitation, and he could feel her relax in his embrace. He thought of the years ahead: the places they would live, the cases they would take, the fights they would inevitably have. He thought of the mornings spent curled around each other in some sunlit apartment in the city; the way her laughter would still sound like home no matter where they ended up.

He'd spent his life searching for stability; for something solid, something certain. It had never been a city or a job, never a place he could pinpoint on a map. It was her.

He didn't say it; not yet. But he knew it in his bones. Wherever they went, wherever life took them next, Olivia was his forever home.

The drive north was quiet, the miles stretching long between them and everything they were leaving behind. The last time they'd travelled north on the I-95 was the day they'd snuck back into Manhattan to see Rafael's abuelita in the hospital; he still remembered the anxiety that flooded every cell in his body and his worried glances at the clock, wondering if they'd make it back in time to see her.

Thankfully, this trip was different. His hand rested gently on Olivia's thigh as Blake cruised along the highway. They were going home, once and for all.

As they neared the city, the Manhattan skyline came into view, rising like an old promise against the horizon. The first glimpse of the Empire State Building caught in Olivia's throat.

Rafael exhaled, like he had been holding his breath for the past year. "God, I missed this place."

New York had always been waiting for them. No matter how far they ran, how many times they swore they were done, the city had a way of calling them back. And now, for the first time in a long time, he didn't have to fight it. He glanced at Olivia, watching the way the city reflected in her eyes, just as mesmerised by the view as he was. They had left this place in limbo, in a space between knowing and not knowing, between love and something unspoken. But there was no more in-between now.

He looked at Olivia and all he could see was home. His home.

Then, casually - almost too casually - he blurted out, "Marry me."

Olivia blinked. Turned her head. "What?"

He tore his gaze from the Manhattan skyline and looked directly at her with a sparkle in his eye. "I mean, yeah. Marry me?" Like it was the simplest thing in the world. Like it hadn't been written in the spaces between them all along.

She laughed, breathless, shaking her head. "You're asking me that now?"

He glanced at her, eyes warm and steady. "Felt like the right time."

She didn't say a word, but reached for his hand, lacing her fingers through his, and leaned over to kiss him. It was answer enough.

Their new apartment smelled like coffee and fresh paint, the windows thrown open to let the city in. It was a real home this time and not just a place to hide. Rafael hadn't quite managed to sell Olivia on living in Brooklyn, but their cozy brownstone in Greenwich Village came close enough to the tree-lined streets of Brooklyn Heights or Park Slope. They hadn't had to think much before putting in an offer; it had felt right from the moment they stepped inside (especially with the in-unit washer and dryer).

Fin and Rita had insisted on a lavish welcome-back party at the precinct that afternoon despite Rafael and Olivia's insistence. Their grand reappearance was highly anticipated, especially after the whirlwind of the past year. Jack and Cragen had given them time off until the end of the summer, which they'd used to hunt for apartments, get used to taking the subway again, and settle back into the pulse of the city. It was a huge change from the suburbia they'd left behind, but a very welcome one.

Rafael sifted through their mail as Olivia lingered by the fridge, casually peeling a banana. He turned just in time to catch her taking a dramatic bite, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"You know," she mused, chewing slowly, "I think we should get extra bagels the next time we stop at the bakery. Maybe an extra pack of five."

Rafael arched an amused brow. "Yeah? Since when have you loved their bagels this much?"

She smirked, tossing the banana peel into the trash. "Well, I am eating for two now."

For a second, the words didn't register. Then Rafael froze, envelopes slipping from his fingers and scattering across the counter. Olivia pressed her lips together, trying to suppress a laugh as he just stared at her, mouth slightly open, like she'd just recited a legal statute in a foreign language.

"You're—?"

"Pregnant," she confirmed, biting her lip, watching his reaction with barely contained amusement. "I took a test while you were at the bodega."

A memory flickered through his mind: her standing in his living room over a year ago, fear and disappointment in her eyes as she told him about the pregnancy test she'd taken while he was on a reckless trip to New Jersey. Back then, they hadn't been ready. But things were so different now.

Rafael exhaled a breathless laugh and raked a hand through his hair before closing the distance between them in two quick strides. His hands framed her face, lips crashing onto hers in a kiss so deep it made her dizzy.

"We're having a baby," he murmured against her skin, awestruck, his forehead pressing to hers. When they parted, the giddy smile on his face brought tears to Olivia's eyes.

"Yeah," Olivia whispered, heart thundering in her chest. "We are."

"You'll be the best mom. I love you so much, Liv."

She let out a breathy laugh, blinking back tears. "Well, our kid's got a dad who went to Harvard. That's gotta count for something."

Rafael smirked, brushing his thumb over her cheek. "As long as they inherit the scholarship and not just the attitude."

Olivia rolled her eyes and swatted playfully at his chest before turning toward the mirror. Rafael admired his fiancé as she adjusted her necklace, one hand drifting unconsciously to her abdomen. His gaze caught on her engagement ring; the one that had made Lucia Barba gasp in horror when she found out he'd proposed before consulting her. Thankfully, she had gotten over it quickly, especially once it sank in that her only son was finally getting married.

"Everyone's going to lose their minds when they see us. And my ring."

Rafael grinned as he grabbed his keys and phone. "Good. Let's make a grand entrance."

He put his arm around her shoulders, and together, they stepped out into the city streets as Olivia Benson and Rafael Barba.

For so long, their compasses had spun aimlessly, leading them through months of uncertainty - false starts and near misses. But not anymore. Not this time. This time, they weren't lost. They were home.

They were exactly where they were meant to be, and the road ahead had never looked brighter.