Hello all! *waves* :)

I started this a few months back and have only completed two chapters but I was thinking about re-visiting it. It really took on a life of it's own!
Meant to take place sometime after season 7's 'Blast'. If you're willing to stretch the imagination a bit (which, after all, fan-fiction is all about right? ;D) it will have all taken place 8 days following the events of 'Blast'.

Enjoy!

-Dru

He lay in the cribs and didn't hear her until she walked into the room.

Even though he heard her then, he still jumped at the sound of his name.

"Elliot?"

Aching muscles protested as he forced himself into a sitting position. Dizziness was quick to overwhelm him; he swung his legs over his cot and rested his face in his hands. Olivia crouched at his feet and soon after, his hands were replaced by the soft, cooling sensation of hers. No words were exchanged as she gently pressed him back down to rest on his flattened pillow, even though so much stood unsaid between them.

It had all began Monday night…and had barely given them a chance to breathe since then. A sequence of events spanning over 6 days. Each day bringing a different, somewhat off-balanced side of members of their New York precinct they never expected would surface. Members which included Elliot and Olivia themselves.

But it had happened. Each day like clockwork, something would happen between the two of them and one of their colleagues, and Elliot and Olivia were left to sort out the confusing line of questions afterwards. Olivia was often worrying herself, hardly being able to concentrate on her work.

It began on a Monday.

Monday Night

[Tuesday Morning]

Squad Room

Midnight

Elliot stared at her, eyes drooping from exhaustion at the desk across from him.

"Liv…," he prompted gently. "Olivia."

"Hmmm? What…? Where was I…?" she fumbled clumsily through her post-dozed off state. Elliot grinned.

"If I do remember…I just sunk your battle ship."

Olivia frowned at the plastic pegs in front of her and then raised an eyebrow.

"No…," she stood up and stretched dramatically, reminding Elliot of a cat awaking from a Sunday nap. "I just sunk your battle ship."

Elliot had admitted to Olivia two days ago that he had been sleeping in the cribs stationed just off their squad room. That he feared going home to an empty house and was often awoken by devastating nightmares involving his children. Olivia, confused and scared about their fragile relationship, was unsure of what to do. But she knew that leaving him alone wasn't an option. She had been sleeping alongside him, on the cot opposite his wall for the past two nights. She was met with vehement resistance at first, but Olivia had made up her mind and after a few jabs at her being 'stubborn and ridiculous', Elliot gave up. Elliot wondered how long they could 'sneak around' like they had been. Being the last two to say goodnight, being the first two there in the morning with coffee brewing. Munch had already brought teasing attention to the latter that morning.

"As much as I enjoy beating you, I say we call it a night," Olivia said, a smile shining through her tired voice. "I'm going to go brush my teeth."

"Okay…," Elliot grinned. "Cheater."

Olivia shot him a look before disappearing out into the hall. Elliot worked on cleaning up their Battleship board, getting frustrated that the box wouldn't close until he took all the little pegs out individually. He jumped about a foot in the air when he turned around and the doorway was occupied by someone other then Olivia.

"Melinda?"

"Elliot?"

SVU's stunned medical examiner froze, her mouth slightly agape with question. "I didn't think you'd still be here."

It wasn't until then that Elliot noticed her tear streaked face, her shaky hands and uneven breathing.

"Are…are you all right?" Elliot asked, the image of the always well put together, strong woman now disarrayed and upset shocked him. Melinda opened her mouth to speak but nothing but a strangled sob came out. As if the noise had snapped her back into reality, she was quick to quiet herself again and take a few steps into the room. Elliot took her arm and was quickly shot a startled glare. She shook him away and sat down into the seat Olivia had just vacated. The room settled into an uneasy silence. Elliot couldn't help but notice how lost Melinda looked, her naturally droopy eyes exaggerated in the dim light of the squad room.

"I'm having nightmares, Elliot."

It had only been a few nights since they had been taken hostage and Melinda was forced to shoot a coked out shooter in the leg.

"It doesn't have anything to do with what happened to us," she was quick to snap, almost as if reading Elliot's thoughts.

"Okay…," Elliot leaned up against Olivia's desk, arms crossed. "So…what does it have to do with?"

"My daughter." She said it with an air of reluctance in her voice. "I keep seeing Carly in that car…but instead of Carly it's her. It's my daughter." Elliot was unsure of what to say, silenced by the fact that Melinda sat there telling him this. She continued quietly, her head bowed in an attempt to hide the sneaky tears that insisted on leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "I've been staying late the past few nights. I'm exhausted…I don't want to go to sleep but when I do....all I see is blood. Blood and the dark and the screams of a little girl…"

"Melinda…," Elliot started softly. "You saved 3 lives in the span of two days. Do you realize that? None of them would be here without you right now. Carly included."

Melinda stood up abruptly then, as if Elliot's words had prompted her to do so.

"I…I have to go, Elliot. I'll see you later."

He didn't try to stop her but as she went to open the door, it opened first, revealing Olivia standing out in the hall. The startled women stared at each other with wide eyes. Olivia saw the tears, her heart hammering with instinctive adrenaline.

"Sweetheart…,"

It was the soft, soothing tone Elliot was coveting these days. Melinda crumpled into Olivia's chest, crying softly into her neck.

The three talked into the early hours of the morning, all ignoring their individual nagging exhaustions. Melinda talked about her two years in the Air Force with gentle prompting from Elliot. She talked about her daughter and her husband and how Casey Novak reminded her of a scared little girl or a puppy with its tail between its legs. They laughed and had the horrible generic coffee the precinct offered them.

A careful, unsaid appreciation traveled through the three of them. Olivia revealed why she was there so late with Elliot, something she'd never thought she'd do. Melinda just smirked, touched by the little insiders' secret. She rolled her eyes when Elliot told her it was just between the three of them. Even after she left around 4, Elliot and Olivia spoke in hushed tones, voices hoarse from lack of sleep. They lay across from each other in their cots but couldn't sleep.

When Cragen ambled an hour later they were waiting with coffee, their game of Battleship cleverly hidden in Olivia's desk for later.