Yeah, okay. Posting them all at once. Sue me.

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When Olivia woke up, this time for good and off drugs, she didn't remember most of her conversation with Elliot. Just that she had probably embarrassed herself, but she wasn't too concerned. They had to go back through everything that had happened, and she was thrilled to be back at work. The bullet had, miraculously, missed all her major organs, and she was back on her feet in weeks.

Back at work, it was her first act as acting commander of The Special Victims' Unit to officially offer Elliot his job back. Not just the "you work for me now," but the real deal.

"You could take the Sergeant's exam," she smiled. "They're talking about making me a lieutenant."

"Yeah," he said, but for some reason he wasn't saying yes right away. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't want to work with her again-maybe because they wouldn't be equals anymore, she thought without really believing it. But, as it turned out, she didn't have to wait long to find out.

They were walking along the streets of New York one night, having just put Noah in bed with Lucy back at the house. It was wonderfully cold out, the stars spreading above them in a dazzling blanket, the city lights warming every color. They walked side by side, hands just touching, holding their bag of donuts and laughing about something silly.

"Hey," he said, stopping suddenly to turn around. "Do you know where we are?"

She looked around. "Umm…"

"This is where we worked our first case together, remember? With Mitch and O'Connell?"

She looked around. "Wow." It was, unlike them, utterly untouched by time. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed. She hugged her arms to herself against the cold and the years. "I can't believe how far we've come."

"Yeah," he said softly, facing her. The wind reached out to ruffle his now-longer hair, and she thought about repeating the gesture herself. His eyes were bright and full of warmth. She wanted to kiss him. "I can't believe it's taken me this long to get here."

She blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

Elliot stepped one step forward, closing the last of the distance between them, so their bodies were touching. He gave her the chance to move, but she didn't. He studied her eyes with his, and moved his gloved hand slowly to cup her cheek. He smoothed it slowly, and she closed her eyes under his touch.

"El," she breathed, opening her eyes again for the briefest of moments. His eyes were on her lips, and her breath hitched in her throat. His eyes shot up to hers again, waiting, and she realized that he was asking permission. She felt herself flush under his gaze, and realized that she wanted nothing more in that moment than to kiss him. There was no space in between them, and she put a trembling hand on his chest. She felt his arms close around her, and that was all it took.

His lips met hers with a sigh, with a feeling like finally, and the warmth of them spread through her whole body. She pulled him closer, until she could feel every inch of his body on hers, and when she found his tongue something inside of her melted. And then Olivia felt a shift inside of him, felt something more animal and dominant come out of the disciplined man she knew. Elliot pulled her close, crushingly close, not giving her room to think or breathe, just taking and taking from her body in the best way. A tiny noise came out of her throat, and they had to pull away, staring at each other like new people as they fought for breath.

"I'm in love with you," he said simply, eyes desperate, and for a moment she could hardly believe that it was her that had made him so out of breath and that it was her that he loved. "I love you, Olivia."

And then she kissed him again, simply because it was the thing to do. Because she wanted to. Because she could. She kissed his lips, she kissed his face, she caressed his face in her hands, watching him quiver under her touch. She pulled away, watching his face. She wanted to tell him that she loved him too. But she wanted to be sure. "Are you sure you want to do this? Because with you, El, I couldn't have anything less than the real thing. You mean too much to me."

A soft smile touched his lips. The lips that she already missed. "We've spent 12 years together, and you're still the best part of every day. Of course I'm sure, Liv. I want everything, and I want it with you. It's all I want."

She looked at him again, unable to help the slight skepticism in her voice. "You're really sure?" At that, he laughed.

"What do I need to do to convince you, Liv? Do I need to get down on one knee?" He dropped immediately to the ground, looking up at her with a dopey grin. And it was then that she realized he was really in love with her.

"Olivia Benson," he began, eyes shining as he looked at her.

She dropped to her knees, silencing him with a long kiss. "I love you, too, Elliot." She looked for a long time into his eyes. "Always have," she said softly. "Always will."

She thought she was going to cry. "Come on," she said, through a smile so big it hurt. "Let's go home."

They walked home, hand in hand, leaving all the darkness and confusion behind them, ready to take on 2015 and the rest of their lives—together.

A/N: Hey guys. So, basically, I know this story wasn't perfect, and I know my update times were absolute shit, but I just want to thank you guys anyways for reading and reviewing and sticking with me and reaching out to me all the time. I'm about ready to move on to my own writing, so I probably will be even less present here, but I just wanted to say I'm so happy I got to fangirl (and boy) with you all.

xoxo,

Kattella07