Her heat stopped.

He was there. Right in front of her.

She was now silently cursing herself for making the decision that it was absolutely necessary to go out to lunch. She was positive she needed a break, yeah look where that friggin got her.

She couldn't breathe. Literally.

He hadn't seen her yet.

She wanted to run, to cry, to shout, to do SOMETHING.

But, nothing happened and nothing came out.

Eventually though, she did manage to start shooting daggers at him through her eyes.

That was about the time he turned around and noticed her standing there.

Now, she was screwed.

Nowhere to go, nowhere to run.

She felt glued to the floor. God, she was pissed.

She wished she had the energy to unholster her gun. She would shoot his ass.

Maybe even IN the ass. If she could get him to turn back around.

Wouldn't that be convenient.

It's funny, she thought, she could positively ID him even from the back.

That was sad. She wished she didn't know him that well.

Oh God, he was moving in her direction.

What the fuck was he thinking?

Asshole.

Now, she thought, would be the perfect fucking time to regain access to her body. She needed to get the hell out of there.

His face, oh dear Jesus, he was so close now. She could almost feel his heart pounding.

When the hell did he get so freaking close?

His eyes, she was positive they were going to kill her.

They were just so damn blue, so sincere, so... Loving.

Seriously? He hadn't even said anything yet and she was already just about dead.

She wished she'd just die already. She wasn't going to survive this. No. Fucking. Way.

" Liv." The first words out of his mouth. Almost a hushed whisper.

"El..." That was it. All she could get out. God damn it.

" I don't... know what to say." He stated shaking his head.

" Yeah, that's convenient Elliot. Almost a year and a half. That's about all I expected out of you." Well, she had found her voice. And now she was really, REALLY pissed. And now that she was talking, It was on.

" Liv I.."

"Don't even fucking bother Elliot. I don't have time for this." Ok, so maybe it wasn't on, maybe she wasn't talking. Either way, she WAS walking away now.

" Don't walk away. Please." He stated.

He sounded so damn pathetic. She almost stopped. Almost.

" Go to Hell Elliot." Came from over her shoulder, shot back at him. She knew exactly what she was doing. Wasn't so sure she liked it, but she was doing it anyway.

" I'm already there Liv." Ok, that one broke her heart. Even if just a little bit. He was killing her, slowly. She hated this.

"Just turn around." He pleaded. She obeyed.

"Look Elliot, I've got paper work to finish, and a bastard in interrogation that, if he doesn't crack soon, Nick is gonna need some help with. Make this fast." she spat at him.

"Nick?"

She stopped stunned for a second. She didn't even notice who she had just said that name to. He had no idea who he was. At least she was pretty sure he didn't. Now she would have to tell him. Great.

" My partner." That right there, killed him. She could see it. It killed her too. Of course it did. It just sounded, and felt for that matter, wrong to use that title with anyone else's name but Elliot's. Wrong, plain down right, burning in the pits on hell wrong.

She couldn't stand this.

He had nothing to say. He was still wounded from that. But, she knew she couldn't feel sorry for him, it was his fault that his name no longer stood behind that title. His own damn fault. He left, he walked the fuck away.

Bastard.

She'd like to say she didn't understand why. But even if she doesn't want to admit it. She does.

She doesn't understand though, why it has been 22 months and she hasn't heard from him once. That's ridiculous. And he knows it too. She knows he does.