For those of you reading this that do not follow me on Twitter, a few months ago I was involved in a very bad car accident that left me with several broken bones. I'm so lucky and blessed to be, not only alive, but on the mend.

This story continues.

Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. The use of characters, setting and plot lines is not malicious. This is a work of fiction.

"You look like you're feeling better," Munch said, stopping beside Olivia's desk on the way to his. "Are you, though?"

She smiled at him, her doe eyes somehow brighter than they had been recently. "Just fine, Munch. Thanks." She shot a look over to Elliot, and for the first time in weeks, he was clean-shaven, in a pressed suit, without too much worry on his face and a joy in his eyes that hadn't been fully visible in a while. "I'm...I'm good," she said, looking up at Munch and nodding.

Munch smiled down at her. "Glad to hear it," he said, and he moved over to his desk and sat, before turning his attention to his partner. "Don't," he warned, seeing Cassidy beginning to move. "She's in a good mood, so just...don't."

Cassidy brushed off Munch's warning, shuffling his feet and rolling his chair over to her. "Morning, Liv."

She turned her head, but still held her stapler and file in her hands, not saying anything beyond, "Morning," with a placating smile. She turned back to her paperwork.

"What are you doing after we get out of here, tonight?" Cassidy looked at her with hope in his eyes and venom on his lips.

She rubbed a hand along her cheek and eyes Elliot, who was pretending not to listen. "I'm going home," she said, and then she looked right at him, "To be with my boyfriend."

Cassidy made a noise like an injured puppy, and he nodded at her. "Oh, I, uh, I didn't know...I didn't know you were seeing anybody."

"I try to keep my personal life...you know...personal." She shrugged and twisted her lips, and then resumed her paperwork.

Not happy, Cassidy leaned over, lowered his voice, and let out a hard breath before speaking. "Your boyfriend know you were with Stabler, last night?"

Her head turned, her eyebrow crooked. "What?" she asked him, her voice almost threatening.

"I saw you two," he sneered, "Practically in each other's lap, and the way you left…"

"He's my partner," Olivia fumed, "And my best friend! We were there because Cragen had a fucking heart attack, you honestly think we wouldn't look to each other for a little comfort?" She shook her head. "What the hell is your problem?"

Balking, and backing away, Cassidy cleared his throat. "Yeah," he said softly. "Right. Sorry." He wheeled back over to his desk and rotated his shoulders a bit, catching Munch's amused and annoyed expression.

"I told you," Munch huffed, "She was in a good mood, you opened your mouth, now she's ready to kill somebody." He breathed out through his nostrils. "I hope it's you."

"So do I," Elliot said, grinning menacingly, proving he had been listening after all. He shook his head, the happy glow on his face now gone, and he ran his hand down his face, making an irritated expression as if, for the first time, realizing how rough his skin was. "Anyone talk to Tucker? Or Cheif…?

Munch sighed loudly. "Tucker's coming down here in about an hour, wants to talk about temporary assignments, policy changes, what happens if…" he yanked off his glasses and dropped his head with another hard sigh, grunting. "Fuck this."

"John," Olivia breathed, standing and heading over to him. She rested a friendly hand on shoulder, unsure of what to do. She'd never seen Munch ever show any emotion, other than passionate anger, and she wasn't sure how to respond to his soft, silent tears.

"I'm okay," Munch affirmed, clearing his throat. He pushed his glasses back on, up the bridge of his nose. "I'm okay," he said again as he nodded, as if convincing himself more than Olivia.

Olivia pulled her hand away and shot Cassidy a worried look, and she saw something in his eyes that she'd never noticed, or was it that she chose to ignore? She shook her head and moved back toward her desk, but before she could sit down, a frantic young woman ran through the squad room.

"I need...I need to…" her words were broken, a thick accent hanging on them. "I need to talk to detective...uh, um, Stabler," she spat, mispronouncing the name as she waved her hands and swirled her head around, looking for a man she didn't know.

Elliot eyed Olivia as he stood up. "I'm Detective Stabler," he said, reaching out a hand to grab onto the panicked woman's arm. He helped her into a chair and sat on the edge of his desk. "This is my partner, Detective Benson, what can we…"

"I have card," she shouted, brandishing a clenched fist at him. Between her curled fingers, she clutched one of his business cards. Shaking, she opened her hand and let the balled up cardstock shake its way over to him. "I call you."

"Slavic, Serbian, I think," Olivia whispered to him with narrow eyes, picking up the nuances in the accent.

Elliot nodded as he unfolded the card and when he saw the swirly handwriting on the back, he sighed in realization. "She's one of Sister Peg's girls," he said softly to Olivia, holding up the back of the card to her.

"What's your name, honey?" Olivia asked gently. Her hand looped softly around the young woman's, and she tried to smile.

Seeming to calm, the girl looked down into her hand and traced Olivia's fingers with her trembling thumb. "Jana," she said on a sob. "I have trouble. I have big trouble."

"Get her some water," Olivia gently demanded of Elliot, and as soon as he got up, she asked, "Kakve nevolje?" In quick, fluent Serbian, she asked what kind of trouble the girl was in, and the look of relief in the young woman's eyes as she looked up at Olivia was heartbreaking.

The girl began to recount her story in her native tongue, tears falling, her hand grasping Olivia's tightly, and when Elliot reappeared with a cup of water, the girl took it from him gratefully and drank it down in one gulp.

Olivia turned her eyes away from the calmed down young woman, looking up at Elliot. "She was raped in one of the offices at INS. She says someone promised her a new life, took her down to the federal building, gave her a bunch of papers and told her to ask for a man named…"

"Brantwood," Elliot finished, his eyes narrow. "Think we can make this one stick?"

A voice from behind the traumatized girl said, "With skills like you two have, and a living victim, you're gonna nail the son-of-a-bitch."

Elliot's head popped up and he made sure Olivia could finish taking Jana's statement without him before walking away, over to the new man in the room. "What happened?" he asked, suddenly worried.

Ed Tucker frowned and shook his head. "Nothing," he said, "I just...I'm a little early, I know, but…"

"Right," Elliot sighed. "Sorry, we just...we're all afraid we're gonna get a phone call about…" he couldn't finish the sentence. "What, uh, what do you want us to do, here?"

Tucker grinned. "You're doing it," he said, shrugging. "Your jobs. I saw that," he pointed at Olivia. "How many fucking languages does she speak?"

"A fair few," Elliot laughed. But then, he let out a heavy sigh and folded his arms. "You know what I meant."

Tucker mimicked his actions, and Olivia shot them both a curious glance, a smirk on her face. They looked eerily similar, brooding, penetrating blue eyes, and a body made of attitude and muscle. She bit her lip as her eyes focused only on Elliot; he was younger than Tucker, more rough around the edges, but his heart was pure, he had a sensitive side, compassion, and he loved her with everything he had. She loved him just as hard. She gasped when he stared back at her, and watched him blow her a kiss and then rolled her eyes and resumed talking with the scared young woman.

"You," Tucker said, snapping Elliot's attention away from Olivia. "Don't look at me like that. It's temporary, and I already hauled my ass down here, twice, after Morris moved you and Benson up the ladder, trying to push harder for your exam results. I got them, last night."

"Exam…" his eyes widened. "You made me and Liv take that fucking test because you knew Cragen was…"

Tucker held up a hand. "No, listen to me," he breathed. "I needed the two of you to take it, I needed you both on deck, not just for this unit, but…" he scratched his fingers over the side of his left cheek. "You're good, you know that? Damn fucking good. If any unit in this city started to fail, I needed a way to stop the ship from sinking, get me? So whether it was SVU or not, one of you would have been an option to…"

"Both of us," Elliot questioned, his words cutting off Tucker's, "You were planning on making both of us head up different units?"

"Well, when the time came, yeah," Tucker affirmed. "One of you would take over here, and I would try to get the other into another office ASAP, because I know you, neither of you would put up with that for any longer than, what, a week?"

Elliot smirked. "We take orders from each other all the time."

Staring blankly at Elliot, Tucker shook his head. "Not going there," he sid. "Point is, the time came a lot earlier than expected, and I need you to take the gig, now." He looked into Elliot's suddenly terrified eyes. "Relax, I'm not pulling her rank anytime soon, and you're only going to be the acting captain, it's only temporary." He let his eyes move toward Olivia again. "Neither of you is ready for it, full-time. A lot of shit between you two is still...new, no? I can't tear you away from the only partner you've ever had that fucking works, and she's only been here a year, she's got a lot left to prove, and I think…" he looked back at Elliot. "She can only do it with you."

Nodding, Elliot bit his lip. "What about Munch, you don't think he's earned…"

"Munch looks good on paper," Tucker interrupted, "And when Cragen retires, if Munch hasn't yet, the job is his. But...this isn't a retirement, it's not a power-play by One-P-P, and it's not administrative leave. Don had a fucking heart-attack, I am not going to add more stress to Munch, now, when he looks like he's about to have one, too."

Hanging his head a bit, and running a hand over his face, Elliot said, "Yeah. Okay. Fine. What do I do?"

Tucker shrugged. "I already told you, El, just do your job." He slapped a hand on Elliot's shoulder. "Nothing changes, other than...you make the calls, the decisions, you have to handle the brass, and the discipline. Other than that," he saw where Elliot's eyes had drifted and his whole body seemed to soften. "You're still her partner, I promise you that."

Elliot nodded again, silently thanking him, and he moved. "I should...tell them."

Tucker gave a single nod and then turned to leave, knowing he had something he needed to tell them, too, but it was just going to have to wait.

Thank you to anyone still reading this.

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