A/N: SO sorry for the long wait! This chapter was particularly difficult for me, but I don't know why. The writer's block is coming on strong. I got it done, though, so I hope you enjoy!

Elliot set two plates down on the bar in front of Olivia, and sat across from her. The omelettes on the plate looked delicious; they were big, cheesy, and filled with bacon. "Wow. This looks awesome."

"Try it." Elliot answered, pouring hot sauce all over his plate.

Her brow furrowed. "Did you just pour hot sauce on your eggs?"

"Hell, yeah, I did." He took a huge bite. "Delicious. Want some?"

"No, thanks." She said, chuckling as she cut a bit of omelette and popped it into her mouth. She moaned, and her eyes rolled back in her head. Best. Omelette. Ever. The eggs were pillowy, cheesy and delicious. The bacon was cooked just enough. "Oh my God, Elliot. You just need to quit work and open an omelette house, because this is fantastic."

Elliot laughed, taking another bite. "I think I'll stick to just making them for you. If you want, that is."

"I definitely want. Seriously, how did you learn to make these so well?"

He shrugged. "You know how busy this job can be. I never got to spend as much time with my family as I wanted, so whenever I got a day off, I reserved the morning just for me and Maureen. She loved omelettes… with extra cheese and bacon." A smile came across his lips as he thought about his daughter's face… her wide smile, sparkling eyes… "Kathy bought this huge pan for god knows what, so I'd make one about double the size of this, and we shared it. Guess we did it so often, I just got really good at it." He chuckled. "She used to make the same face you did when I put hot sauce on my half."

Olivia reached for his hand, and squeezed. "You sound like a great dad, El."

He looked up at her, and gave a small smile. "I tried my best. I wasn't always there, and that's something I regret, but… I loved them more than this Earth."

"I don't doubt that."

Elliot was shocked by how easy it was to talk about them. There was a point where he couldn't even utter one of their names without breaking into tears, but now… there was still pain, no doubt about that, there was still anguish, but it was bearable. He loved the time they spent together.

Olivia finished her omelette in record time. When Elliot finished as well, she took his plate , and placed both of them in the sink. Taking a deep breath, she sat back down, and said, "Remember when I told you about… my mom?"

"Yeah." Elliot answered. His brow furrowed, and he leaned forward. He didn't know what she was going to say, but he could tell that it was important. "Why?"

"You've told me everything there is to know about you. I figured I should do the same." She said.

Elliot stood from his chair, walked around the bar, and sat next to her. "Okay."

Olivia took a deep breath. This was going to be harder than she thought it would. "I told you about… my mother being raped."

He nodded.

"She was an alcoholic." She began. "She couldn't deal with what happened to her, and… I reminded her of him whenever she looked at me. So she'd drink."

"That's no excuse for her to hurt you." He said gently. "You know that, right?"

Olivia nodded, but she wasn't so sure. If it hadn't been for her… Being raped was hard enough, and she couldn't imagine having a permanent reminder. "When I was in high school, I dated one of her students. When she found out… she was drinking. She broke the bottle of vodka, and came after me with the jagged edge of the bottle."

"What did you do?"

Olivia pursed his lips. "I didn't know what to do. When she came after me, I… I had to protect myself. I kicked her twice, and ran out of the house."

Elliot's heart sunk as tears formed in Olivia's eyes. He'd never seen her like this, and frankly, it scared him.

"I really shouldn't be crying. Y-you tell me about how your best friend was blown up in front of your eyes, and one of your daughters dying in your arms, and I-I can't even handle…"

"Hey." He whispered, reaching for her. His arm wrapped around her waist and he pulled her close. "Don't say that. You were hurt, too, you have every right to cry."

She leaned into his solid chest, and allowed the tears to fall. She hadn't told anyone about her past; she shoved it into the back of her mind and never dealt with it, sort of like Elliot did. She didn't express herself in the same way as he did, with the anger and the pain, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. It felt good to finally get it off her chest, but at the same time, the emotions were still raw.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of." Elliot murmured, pulling away just enough to look at her face. "Liv, you need to know… if it weren't for you, I… don't know what I'd be doing right now. Probably drinking myself into a stupor. Not to mention what a great detective you are."

"That man… I don't know what kind of genes he passed down to me, I don't know…" Olivia whispered, "What if I'm like him?"

"You're nothing like him. I haven't seen a violent bone in your body. Olivia, you're a good person. Hell, you're a great person. Your father, your mother, nothing can change that." Elliot squeezed her hand to punctuate the statement. "Nothing. Do you understand?"

"I don't know." She mumbled, avoiding his gaze. "El, I just… don't know."

Elliot took a deep breath, and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Listen, Olivia. You're strong. You keep telling me that I am, that I can get over what I have to get over. So if you think that I can, then you can, too."

She shook her head. "I can talk all I want, but… I could never survive what you've had to go through, El. I could never… I probably would have eaten my gun. You… I don't know how you can do this."

He hesitated for a long moment, a lump forming in his throat. And here he thought she knew what she was doing… as it turns out, she knew less than he did about recovering. He swallowed. "I don't know how, either. I-I just know that…" Elliot took a deep breath. This was harder to say than he thought it would be. "When I'm with you, I… the pain, it doesn't seem to matter. I hope… I can do the same for you. I'm here for you, just like you're here for me."

This time, it was Olivia that wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him close, her head falling against his shoulder. She whispered, "Thank you."

He knew now why she was so dedicated to helping him. Sure, hearing about this and seeing her so upset sucked, but holding her and being able to say that he was helping her was the best feeling in the world. He could only imagine what it felt like for her.

"You're welcome." He answered.

The next morning, Captain Cragen sat at his desk in his office, checking his watch and nervously glancing through the window on the door. It was nearing 7:20, and Elliot still hadn't arrived yet. Then again, most of his detectives hadn't; their shift started at eight. But for the past year and a half, Elliot had been getting to work around seven, and on particularly bad days, even six thirty.

Maybe he drank himself into a stupor again, the captain thought to himself. But he's been doing better than usual lately.

Finally, the door to the bullpen opened, and Elliot walked through, hand shuffling through the inside pocket of his suit jacket. Cragen watched him for a moment as he took off the jacket, slung it on the back of his chair, and sat down, taking a long stretch.

The captain stood, and leaned in the doorway. "Hey. You're late."

Elliot looked up at the captain, confusion on his face. He checked his watch. "No I'm not. It's only seven thirty."

"Later than usual."

"I thought you'd be proud. I slept pretty damn well last night." A slanted grin was plastered across his face. He knew the captain was just busting his balls.

Don shrugged, approaching the detective's desk. "I was starting to worry I'd have to go over to your place and see you passed out on the floor."

Elliot picked up a pen, and twirled it between his fingers. Finally, he shrugged. "Well, you didn't have to. I haven't had a drop of the hard stuff in… over a week, I think."

Cragen nodded, sitting on the edge of the desk. "How're you feeling, then?"

He took a deep breath. "You know, I'm… I'm good." He nodded to himself. "Yeah, I'm doing alright."

"So, seeing Doctor Reilly has been helping, then."

Elliot looked up at the captain. "Yeah. It has been."

The captain reached out, and pat Elliot on the shoulder. "That's great to hear, son."

Elliot gave Cragen a small smile. "Thanks, Cap'n."

They both heard clicking of shoes on the floor, and Olivia walked through the double doors. Cragen stood, and reached into his pocket. "You're just in time. I got a case for you two."

He handed Elliot the piece of paper. "A woman was found dead in her apartment."

"Morning, Liv." He said, reaching for his jacket.

"Morning." She answered, turning towards the elevator. After their talk the day previous, they'd taken the opportunity to just relax; that meant more mafia movies and a big bag of buttery popcorn. She'd left in the late hours of the afternoon, citing a messy apartment and the need to do laundry before work.

"Want to drive?" He asked, holding out the keys.

"Sure."

CSU was already on the scene when Elliot and Olivia arrived.

"What do we have?" Elliot asked, looking around.

"Body's in the bedroom." O'Halloran said. "There are signs of a struggle here, it looks like the perp overpowered the victim, and dragged her through the living room."

Elliot and Olivia followed him through the apartment, and into the bedroom.

The victim was young. She looked to be in her mid twenties, possibly just out of college and on her own for the first time. Her dark hair was messy, her face was covered in bruises, and she was naked except for a black lace bra. Her arms were tied to the headboard above her.

"Jesus Christ." Elliot murmured, approaching the body. Blood poured from a slice in her throat. "It looks like the perp beat the crap out of her."

"He did." Melinda said from the corner. "Your guy tied her up before ripping her clothes off and beating her with his fists."

"Raped?" Olivia asked.

"There were traces of spermicide, but we haven't found a condom or a wrapper. Your guy must have taken it with him."

"What about the murder weapon?"

"We've been tearing this place apart." O'Halloran said. "No luck."

"Which means he's careful." Olivia said. "Maybe a repeat offender?"

"I'll check with ViCap when we get back to the station." Elliot said. "Do we have I.D?"

"The landlord's outside."

Elliot sighed as he and Olivia walked up the driveway of the house. After speaking with the landlord, they got a name, and an address for her parents in Staten Island. The victim, Caitlyn Pierce, had graduated college the spring before and, like Elliot thought, it was her first time on her own, in her first apartment.

"Ready?" Olivia asked, glancing at her partner.

"Yeah, let's just get this over with." Elliot said, taking a deep breath. He reached the door, and knocked quickly. This was the worst part of his job, without a doubt.

A woman answered the door. Like Caitlyn, she had straight, black hair.

"Mrs. Pierce?" Elliot asked.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

He flashed his badge. "My name is Detective Stabler, and this is my partner, Detective Benson. May we come in?"

"What's this about?" Mrs. Pierce asked nervously.

"It's really not something that we should discuss on the doorstep."

Mrs. Pierce stepped aside, allowing the two detectives in. "Have a seat. Can I get you anything?"

"We're fine." Olivia said. "Mrs. Pierce, when's the last time you spoke with your daughter, Caitlyn?"

"A few days ago." The woman answered. "She called me about a promotion at work, she was so excited. Why? Is there something wrong with my daughter?"

Elliot took a deep breath. "Mrs. Pierce… your daughter was found in her apartment this morning. I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but… she was murdered last night."

Her reaction was exactly what he expected. She ended up punching him weakly several times in the chest, then sobbing on his shoulder as he tried to calm her down with words of comfort.

"Is there anyone you can think of that might want to do this to your daughter, Mrs. Pierce?" He asked gently, holding her at arm's length.

"No." She answered, wiping her eyes. "Caitlyn was… she had a few friends, but other than that, she was just… normal. I can't imagine why someone would do this to her."

"Damn." Elliot cursed, setting the phone down onto his desk.

"What's wrong?" Olivia looked up at him.

"Nothing with ViCap. Any luck tracking down past offenders in the area?"

"There's a recently paroled sex offender living in the building next door, but it says here he only likes ages eight to twelve." Olivia said, looking at her computer screen.

Elliot scoffed. "That's nice." He stood, and looked at the information plastered on the whiteboard. "She graduated from Pace University last May with a degree in Graphic Design and got a job at a studio downtown. She was doing pretty well for herself. Who would want to rape and murder this girl?"

"All the evidence suggests a stranger." Olivia said, approaching him.

Elliot nodded. "Which means we don't have much to go on."

"Well, Mrs. Pierce gave us the name of Caitlyn's best friend. Maybe she can tell us something."

"Maybe."

A/N: A new case! What kind of twisting and winding road does it have in store for our two favorite detectives? Will it bring them closer, or drive them further apart? STAY TUNED and find out! Also, review for a sneak peak of the next chapter! Woohoo! Thanks for reading, and let me know in the reviews below what you like/didn't like/want to see more of!

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Have a great morning/afternoon/evening!

-Stabson