Disclaimer: Dick Wolf owns and will continue to own every SVU character. If I owned them (which I totally don't) then Elliot and Olivia would be together and not toeing the line as irritatingly as they are now. Oh, and Kathy wouldn't be pregnant!

Author's notes: This is the third fanfiction I've written. The other two come before this one, but this one is my favourite and I'll have to post them another time. Blakehurst (a character mentioned in the story) is actually from the second fanfic I wrote, so it'll make sense once (or if) I post them. I hope you enjoy. This story is pretty much like a Law and Order: SVU episode, except Elliot and Olivia are an item. Good times.

Wednesday 8.30pm

"Jesus Elliot, pick one channel."

The screen flickered to yet another channel – some sort of nature documentary. The same one they had seen not thirty seconds ago. He had been channel surfing the same six stations for the past five minutes. At the speed he was changing them, it was a wonder he could see what was on them.

"There's nothing on." Elliot replied, eyes not leaving the screen. Olivia could feel his laugh, a burst of hot air, on the back of her neck as she gave an exasperated sigh.

The day had been extremely long; desk duty and a court appearance. She spent the whole day looking forward to lying on the couch with Elliot in front of the TV watching a movie. They had the lying on the couch part down, but the movie was long forgotten.

"You know if I kill you right now, I'd probably get away with a 'justifiable'. Olivia said sternly. Well, as sternly as was possible with Elliot in such close proximity.

He laughed again, his left hand rubbing her left side. She shifted at the tickling sensation he was provoking. "Elliot," she warned.

"What?" His voice, almost a growl, made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. That was a dangerous tone. One that meant she was in for it – in a completely good way.

Before it had the opportunity to go any further, the shrill tone of Elliot's phone pierced the air.

Elliot gave a frustrated groan as he reached blindly on the table for the source of his annoyance. "I didn't think we were catching", Elliot said as he flipped open his phone, "Stabler".

Olivia heard the murmur of their Captain's voice through the receiver and extricated herself from Elliot's warm body. She stretched her arms over her head letting out a satisfied sound as her muscles woke up.

Elliot sat up, as he listened to Cragen, "Elliot, I need you and Olivia over at the Lydia Hotel."

Elliot rubbed his free hand over his face, waking himself up a little bit, "I thought Munch and Fin were catching?" He rubbed Olivia's back as she got up and made her way to the bedroom.

"They got a break on the Marcos case, so this is all yours."

Elliot sighed, "Ok Cap." He flipped his phone closed, rising off the couch gingerly. He had pins and needles in his right arm. Shaking it, he followed the same path Olivia took, entering the bedroom.

Olivia was brushing her hair back into a ponytail as he pulled his jumper over his head, "where we off to?"

"Lydia Hotel", Elliot said, pulling a clean shirt from the top drawer.

"The Whore Palace?" Elliot snorted, as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that"

Olivia clipped her badge to her belt, "and I thought I was going to enjoy the whole night of Stabler channel flicking."

Elliot made a face at her blatant sarcasm as he pulled his tie over his head. Laughing, Olivia eased it past his ears and under his collar, tightening, than straightening it for him.

"Thanks mum," he said, laughter sparkling in his eyes.

As exhausted as she was, being with him was as good as shot of adrenaline straight into the bloodstream.

"We better get going before the traffic gets too heavy," Elliot said chortling.

"Yeah, we want to beat the mad rush you normally get at this time of the night," Olivia replied, following him out of the apartment.

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"Isn't it too cold for you to be outside of you office?" Elliot joked by way of greeting, as he and Olivia joined the ME outside the hotel room.

"Very funny," Melinda said wryly, waiting for them to put their gloves on before leading them into the hotel room. "Blakehurst won the toss; got the homicide in Queens"

Elliot snorted as he tucked his tie into his shirt, "so what have you got for us?"

They went further into the room, to where a man was tied to a chair; pants open, hands bound, gagged and partially blindfolded.

"Dennis Quant. ID was in the wallet. 45. He isn't reported as missing. Cause of death is a single gunshot wound the chest. He bled to death." Melinda circled the body, pointing to the red stain on his shirt, "the bullet looks like it pierced his heart. He's been dead about two hours. The manager called it in, he's waiting for you downstairs."

"Thanks," Elliot said as Melinda joined one of her colleagues across the room.

"Trick gone wrong?" Olivia suggested as they took in the body before them. She watched as Elliot walked carefully past the body and into the tiny bathroom. She saw the wallet on the bed, and bagged it as Elliot re-entered the main room.

"Bathroom's clean, no blood. But this is a hotel room, there are prints everywhere."

O'Halloran called out to Olivia, "we've got your murder weapon." Olivia reached out for the bag he offered.

"Prints?" O'Halloran shrugged, the grip might be too textured to lift off a print, but we'll send it to the lab anyway. We'll let you know."

Elliot came up to Olivia's side, "why did it take so long for the police to be called?"

"It's an unsafe neighbourhood. Gunshots are a regular occurrence. You'll need to ask the manager."

Elliot and Olivia nodded, "let's go."

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"Room 10, room 10…" the manager, Mr Stevens, mumbled to himself as he pulled out some paperwork from the drawer behind him. "Wasn't too discrete. Paid with a credit card." He pushed the papers across the counter to Elliot and Olivia, "Dennis Quant"

They scanned the sheet quickly, Elliot looked up, "you see him come up with anyone?"

Stevens nodded, "Oh yeah. She's a regular. Different guy most nights"

"You know her name?"

Stevens shook his head, "not much of a talker"

"We'll get you to work with a sketch artist if that's OK?" Olivia asked, pocketing the credit card receipt.

Stevens looked at his watch, "I finish in an about an hour. I can be at your precinct at about 11pm"

Olivia smiled, "you've done this before?"

Stevens nodded again, "this ain't exactly Pleasantville. That's why I didn't call in the shot. It was only after I went to collect the money he owed extra that I saw something was wrong."

Elliot nodded, "did you see the woman leave?"

Stevens thought for a second, "Not long after the shot went off. She left maybe five minutes later. Can't say for sure, I try not to pay too much attention"

Elliot gestured for one of the uniforms manning the door, "when Mr Steven's here finished his shift, give him a ride down to the precinct for a sketch ok?" He turned back to Stevens, "thanks for your help"

Mr Stevens smiled, closing the drawer behind him.

Elliot and Olivia began towards the exit, "let's see if Mr Quant had a family"

"And if they knew how he was spending his evenings"

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Sylvia Quant had a pretty face, nothing extraordinary, and a no-nonsense air about her. She smelt expensive, and her clothes and jewellery would suggest the same. Photos dominated the mantle behind her in the living room, where they were currently informing her of her husband's death. She sat so silently that there was every possibility she had fallen asleep with her eyes open. She didn't even bat an eyelid when they mentioned he had been with a hooker at the time.

"I can't say I'm surprised," Mrs Quant said, fidgeting with her wedding ring.

"Surprised?" Olivia asked.

Mrs Quant gave Olivia an even look, "I'm not stupid Detective. That's why Dennis and I separated in the first place – his infidelities weren't as discrete as they had been initially. I didn't want it to hurt my children anymore."

Elliot raised an eyebrow, "you were getting a divorce?"

Mrs Quant nodded, "in the process of"

"Mum?" A voice from the doorway startled the three in the doorway.

She was obviously a Quant, taking after her mother in looks, but with her father's piercing blue eyes. She looked to be 17, and acknowledged Elliot and Olivia's presence with a nod in their direction as well as a look of curiosity as she entered the room.

"Krystal, I thought you were sleeping over at Jackie's?"

"I was. I mean, I am…I left my toothbrush here. I heard voices," she turned to look at the Detectives again, "what's going on?"

Mrs Quant didn't answer straight away. She reached out and grasped Krystal's hands, pulling her down to sit next to her. "Mum, what is it?" Tears began to fill her eyes, "it's dad isn't it?"

Olivia felt more than saw Elliot glance at her briefly.

"Mum, tell me!" Krystal began to cry in earnest, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Mrs Quant seemed to be frozen, so Olivia spoke up for her, "your father was murdered earlier this evening."

Krystal turned her head in the direction of Olivia's voice, not really focussing on anything. Her gaze turned glassy, and she wrenched her hands out of her mother's tight grasp. "Oh my God" she breathed, breathing heavily, "Oh my God" she repeated. Mrs Quant reached out to soothe her, but Krystal jerked away and off the sofa. Mrs Quant finally showed some emotion: hurt and embarrassment graced her features.

"I'm sorry" Krystal said, turning to Olivia and Elliot, "but I need to get out of this house." She turned back to her mother, "Jackie's waiting for me in the car. I'll be home tomorrow." She looked as though she was lost, still breathing heavily, as she scanned the room, almost as though she was getting her bearings. She let out one final sigh and left the room quickly. The sound of the front door slamming echoed loudly. Mrs Quant wouldn't look them in the eye.

Elliot cleared his throat, "Mrs Quant, we're sorry, but we need to ask this. Where were you at about 5pm this evening?"

She had to be given credit, Mrs Quant had gotten a hold of herself, her back straighter, her gaze unwavering as she looked Elliot in the eye as she answered, "I came home from work at about 4pm. I had a headache so I went to bed. I woke up when Krystal got home at about 7:30pm".

They realised that would probably be the extent of the information that they'd get from her, so Olivia, smiling warmly said, "Thank you for your help." They rose together from the couch, "we're sorry for your loss."

Mrs Quant nodded, "you know where the front door is. You can let yourselves out"

Elliot and Olivia nodded, making their way out of the house silently. As they went down the front path, Olivia voiced her scepticism. "She's not telling us something"

Elliot nodded in agreement, "you felt that too?"

"Yeah. But I can't figure out if she's hiding something about her husband, or herself"