Author's Notes: Nothing belongs to me, well, actually, I just made my final payment on my car, so that's now mine.

Thanks to Ad Hominem Argument…

It was an unremarkable mid-winter's day in New York City. The sky was a dirty blue, the clouds scattered above were obscured by skyscrapers, a breeze blew through the streets, wafting the aroma of car exhaust, garbage and hotdogs along, cars were honking, and a dog, in the distance, was barking. Nothing unusual for a Tuesday morning.

There was nothing different about the 1-6th either. The walls still needed painting, the stairs still creaked and the officers were still overworked and underpaid. Elliot and Olivia walked up those creaking stairs to start their day, chatting amiably as they went. Their last case tied up yesterday, today, hopefully, would be a chance to catch their breath and catch up on paperwork; it was to be an ordinary, unremarkable day in the lives of two experienced detectives.

Olivia went straight to her desk and dumped her belongings on her chair before answering the telephone. Elliot went to the coffee, pouring them both a cup of the strong brew before remembering Olivia was only drinking tea these days. He poured out the contents, rinsed the cup and started again.

He placed her cup in front of her and smiled as she continued, smiling broadly as she spoke to the caller. Elliot sat at his desk and leafed through the phone messages, there was nothing important, nothing urgent demanding his attention, and nothing as interesting as whom Olivia was speaking to.

"Who was that?" he asked the instant she hung up.

"Jack McManus," she replied, making a few notes.

"And?" Elliot raised an eyebrow. Jack McManus was a high profiled lawyer, new in town, who had paid a little more attention to Olivia than Elliot had liked on a recent case.

Olivia smiled inwardly, there was no way in hell she'd ever go out with Jack McManus, but she loved the jealousy it created in her partner. "He just wanted to catch up…" she said casually, "about the case," she added, a smile playing on her lips.

"Well, we're free this afternoon if you want to go then," Elliot offered, there was no way she'd be seeing him alone, not if he could help it.

"Oh, he didn't think it would be necessary for you to be there," Olivia said, smiling broadly at her partner.

"Oh, it's necessary," Elliot mumbled. "We'll go together."

That was the end of the discussion.

.../././...

Fin entered the squad room just after eight and scanned it quickly.

"Morning Liv, El," he said, grabbing his coffee cup.

"Morning Fin," said Olivia moving over and sitting on the edge of his desk. "What's new? She sipped her tea.

"Not a lot." He smiled at her. Elliot moved over to join them.

"Did you catch the game last night?" he asked Fin.

"Yeah, nothing spectacular," replied Fin.

"Yeah, same old, same old," agreed Olivia and both men looked at her.

"You watched the game, Liv?" asked Elliot.

"No, I mean this conversation – totally predictable." She moved back to her desk shaking her head.

"You seen anythin' of my partner?" Fin asked, sitting down.

"Not in yet," answered Elliot.

"Hmm." Fin looked up at the clock, 8:31 am.

"He must have had a hot date last night," offered Elliot.

"Yeah, see that blonde chick he was talking to in the bar last Friday? I don't think I'd be getting out of bed if she was still in it," Fin said, laughing.

Olivia shook her head, knowing full well which blonde had been occupying his time lately, but as she was sworn to secrecy she simply said,"He could just be caught in traffic!"

"Yeah right?" they replied in unison.

A couple of calls, a few faxes and a couple of reports filled in, Fin looked at the clock. 10.13 am. Fin picked up the phone and called Munch's cell again and left another message. He rang his home phone and did the same. He also paged him. There was no way he was going to wade through a sea of paper work while his partner got his rocks off with some young chick at home in bed.

Don Cragen emerged from his office, looked at his three officers and sighed deeply.

"Something wrong, Don?" Olivia asked, moving from her desk to him, he looked unwell.

Elliot was on his feet and with them instantly. Don's face was ashen; he grabbed his boss' arm. "What is it? Do you need me to call you a bus?" Don shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked again. Don shook his head and nodded towards Fin, "I'll wait for him."

Fin hung up the phone and all four headed into Don's office.

"Man, you look crook, Don, can I get you somethin'?" Fin offered, leaning forward his hands on the desk.

"No, Fin, I'm okay." Don turned to look out the window briefly, before turning back and facing three very concerned faces.

"Look, Fin, El, Liv," he looked at each one as he spoke their names. "This is never easy but it has to be done." Elliot and Olivia exchanged worried looks. "Um, I had a phone call about ten minutes ago from Mercy Hospital…" he paused.

"And?" Elliot prompted. This was bad news, big time bad news, and he wanted to know it now.

"Seems John was taken in last night by bus after suffering a heart attack, it was pretty bad," he explained, sitting in his chair. Elliot and Fin looked at each other, the guilt running through them turning their blood ice cold.

"And how is he?" Olivia asked. "Can we see him?"

Don shook his head. "Nah, he didn't make it."

Stunned silence filled the room. Don rested his head in his hands, Olivia sat down in the chair and clasped her hands, Elliot stared out the window and Fin just stared into space, this was not the way an unremarkable day was supposed to go.

Elliot was the first one to break the silence.

"Um, oh, what do we do now?" he said, to no one in particular. Olivia looked up at him. "I mean…do we call someone…and who? I mean there are four ex-wives but do we call them? What about the … the arrangements…for the…you know?"

Don looked at him and slowly shook his head. "Next of kin is listed as me, that's why they phoned here. As for the arrangements," he took a deep breath. "I guess they're up to me too."

"We can help," said Olivia. "We're all in this together, right?" She looked from one man to the next, her eyes finally resting on Fin. "Fin?"

"Ah, yeah, all in this together…we should do this …these arrangements…" he paused; he looked up and caught sight of a squad photograph taken six months earlier. John wasn't smiling, he rarely did but he was in the picture, where he belonged. Fin shook his head. "Oh shit!" he continued. "I can't deal with this." He made for the door and slammed it behind him. Don slumped back in his chair, Elliot went back to staring out the window and Olivia clasped her hands, allowing a single tear to slip down her cheek unchecked.