"Are you ready for me, Daddy?" she sauntered into the room with a flirtatious smirk on her lips, walking over to the man a few feet in front of her, giggling as she slid her arms around him, seeing the two other men in the room, "Oh, I didn't know we were havin' a party. That's gonna be $100 to watch, $250 to join... each." She laughed as muscular arms tightened around her, pulling her closer and she glanced over her shoulder at the two others. As he threw her shirt at her and ordered her to leave, gun raised. She was thrown out the door still in just her bra.

Elliot suddenly woke up, eyes to the ceiling as he took a deep breath. Of everything that had happened that night, including the fact he was shot, those few minutes were the part he couldn't rid his mind of. Her standing in front of him, half undressed. In the next moment, she was wrapped in his arms, pressed against him. It had been two minutes of absolute bliss. Not that he had told her, or anyone else, that.

But every day since then, whether it was sitting across from her in the precinct, or sitting next to her in the car on a stake out. Or hell, even watching her during an interrogation, his mind flitted back to those moments. He saw her standing in front of him in her bra, hair loose and he wanted her. He had wanted her then and he continued to want her. He figures that was when it really hit him. He would never claim not to have noticed her attractiveness before. He may have been temporarily blind once, but he had never been stupid. He had looked into her deep brown eyes; seen her smile at the small things. He had seen her sadness and her joy. In 10 years he had seen every aspect of her, and it all worked together to make her one of, if not the, most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on. So since that night he had longed to touch her again, to hold her.

Olivia.

He would never tell her that of course, she would run a mile. And he was still married. Even if once again things were far from perfect in his marriage. Especially after that night. It had been up to Olivia to tell Kathy where he was. It was up to her to stop Kathy from leaving him again. Part of him wished she hadn't. It would ease the guilt of the feelings that had cropped up more and more since then. It would mean he could lie in bed and fantasize about the what-ifs.

What if they hadn't made her leave? What if it hadn't all been an act and she had shown up there with that intention? What if he really had the chance to have her? There were so many of them. So often now his mind would drift, imagining her walking out of that bathroom to only him. Wrapping her arms around him and letting her lips meet his in a passionate kiss. Allowing him to lay her out on the bed and cover her body with his own. To move with her and hear her utter his name as he took her to the edge. His arousal grew at the very idea and he had to try and force it from his mind. He couldn't do this, not with his wife lying next to him. Sighing, he turned to his side. Trying to make himself go back to sleep when his phone rang. He quickly answered

"Stabler..." he listened to the voice on the other end, nodding to himself, "I'll be right there."

He didn't know whether or not to be glad; he had to go to work. He would see her, but it would either be exactly what he needed or some kind of torture.

They spent the next several hours investigating a rape with no leads. They had knocked on several doors, spoken to friends, family and neighbors of the victim and still nothing. Nobody could tell them anything. They were at a dead end until the lab work came back and hopefully gave them some clues as to what had gone down. A possible suspect. But that would be a while yet. So now, they lay in the crib. Olivia on the bottom bunk and Elliot on the top. They didn't speak. Sometimes they didn't know how. Others it was a case of not needing to. They knew what the other was thinking, feeling. Especially in cases like this when they were coming up at dead ends. They both got tense. Pissed off. Because they knew that there was a perp out there, a risk of them striking again and it was their job to stop them. And sometimes, with nothing to go on, they just couldn't.

The lay in silence for almost an hour, neither one sleeping or even relaxing; It was just a time out, time away from the chaos of the room outside the door. It may be quiet but it was always chaotic. There was always another case about to be dropped on them.

"El..." her voice eventually broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"You ok?" she asked

He turned onto his side, letting his head drop over the side of the bunk to look down at her, "yeah I'm ok. You?" he worried about her. He knew that these kinds of cases were hard for her sometimes, especially when it was one they weren't sure how to solve.

She nodded, "yeah I'm ok. Tired, I was still awake when Don called."

"Me too. Couldn't sleep."

"Why not?" he voice was filled with curiosity.

"Not important," he shrugged his strong shoulders. This was not something he could tell her. Hell it was something he'd rather not know himself sometimes.

"Come on El..." she sighed, "you know you can talk to me."

"Not about this."

She sighed with frustration and stood up, leaning against the ladder of the bunks, "why not? It can't be that bad. Unless you were getting busy with your wife, in which case I don't need to know," she teased, trying to ease a smile from him. In contrast, he grimaced.

"Definitely not."

Her interest was peaked now and she continued to tease, "oooh was Detective Stabler having a dirty dream about a mystery woman?"

"Not a mystery," he muttered to himself, hoping she wouldn't hear. But looking at her, her head tipped a little and confusion on her face, he knew that she had, and he knew she would want an explanation. "Don't ask."

"Well now I have to."

"Liv, please," he sighed, running a hand over his face.

"Aw come on El, who was it?" she grinned, "it's not a big deal, everyone has those dreams. I won't tell."

He rolled his eyes at her, "Olivia, I really don't want to talk about it with you."

"God, El, it's not like it was me," she huffed until she saw the way his eyes widened. Her own mirrored his, "me?"

He bit his lip and said nothing.

"Since when do you dream about me?"

He could have answered that it had been since the minute she had walked into the precinct 10 years earlier. It wouldn't have been a lie. However, this dream wasn't like the others, this one was new and different.

"Since the animal smuggling case," he sighed, "it's no big deal."

"What caused it then?"

He lay back, folding his arms behind his head as he spoke, "well you were half naked and pressed against me. Doesn't matter who you are, I'm a guy, that leaves an impression."

Olivia hardly knew what to say. She couldn't tell him that she had dreamed of him on a number of occasions. "You're married."

"Good thing it's only dreams then, isn't it?" he said sarcastically.

"You don't have to be a dick, Elliot."

"Sorry," he nodded. This was starting to stress him out, "it's just weird. I mean sure, I always thought you were attractive. Always adored you, but I've always managed to keep it pretty much platonic, but after that night, the dreams started. I wanted you. Not that I was going to do anything about it."

"Why not?" the question surprised them both. It was definitely not what she had intended to say. She had planned to laugh it off, shove him lightly and make a joke. Somehow she had said that instead.

"I'm married," he reminded her.

Looking up at him, she bit her lip, "we could play pretend. Like we're undercover again," she said softly, "you're the customs officer helping a gang of smugglers and I'm the whore you call."

He shook his head, "I'm not going to pretend you're a whore, Liv," he told her firmly.

"Secret fuck buddy?" she chuckled

"Liv!"

"Come on, El..." she smiled, "you don't get many chances at pretending for a while. Putting everything aside and living in the moment. We both need it. Let's play pretend." She stepped up onto the ladder, looking down at him.

As he looked back at her, his breath caught, she was beautiful and he wanted her. There was no denying it. But he didn't want to pretend it was nothing. With her it would always be something. But maybe this was his only option.

"Pretend," he murmured, nodding as his lips finally met hers.