A/N Remember when Tucker was an over-zealous grudge-holding bastard who wasn't above crossing lines? Yeah, me too.

All Through The Night

Careful not to wake the woman sleeping beside him, her head resting strategically on his shoulder, Ed Tucker retrieved his phone, the message notification on the screen - and its sender - bringing a smile to his lips. His companion on the hospital waiting room couch stirred slightly at the movement and he immediately stilled. It'd been a rough day for Olivia Benson; Gary Munson had not been happy that his family had, effectively, been taken away from him and had lashed out, shooting Sergeant Dodds in the process. Olivia had, not entirely unexpectedly, taken the events to heart, blaming herself for what had happened to Mike Dodds and wrestling with the 'what-ifs'. It'd taken some convincing on his part to get her to sit down but it'd been sheer exhaustion that had led to her current state, rather than his soothing words or presence. As soon as he'd heard about the shooting he'd dropped everything to be by her side, to offer any assistance that he could, but now that everything had quietened down he wasn't able to sleep; the thought of it being her who had been shot, that it was her life currently hanging in the balance, turned over and over in his mind, keeping him very much awake. Losing her now was unthinkable; they'd only recently gone from adversaries to lovers and he had a whole lifetime planned out for them.

For far too many years, Detective Olivia Benson had barely given him the time of day. Her attitude during those years had been par for the course: most of his fellow officers in NYPD loathed him. And though he'd initially been attracted to her he'd quickly realised that nothing would ever happen; even if she could have got past the fact that he worked for IAB, Elliot Stabler - her partner and his own personal nemesis - had held too much sway over Liv. Instead of pursuing her, he'd focussed his energy in taking down all of SVU, Liv included. It still gnawed at him to this day that he had been unable to take Stabler's badge but, in hindsight, that might have been for the best; Liv might never have forgiven him for crossing that line. That she'd been prepared to put his more than a decade's long vendetta against SVU behind them was nothing short of a miracle in itself.

Satisfied that Liv had settled back down, he let out a breath and turned his gaze away from his phone and towards her. He hadn't expected her to act any differently towards him after Stabler's departure and she hadn't disappointed in that respect. To be fair, he hadn't changed either; that had come a little later, though he wasn't sure exactly when his feelings for her had become less antagonistic and something closer to desire. Her promotion to Sergeant, and subsequent elevation to SVU boss, had certainly caught his attention. Maybe his initial interest had been to watch her crash and burn but she'd surprised him. He'd liked the new and improved Olivia Benson, enough to drop both his guard and his grudge. Getting her to do the same had taken more effort. Offering her advice and encouragement, although not always gratefully accepted, had eased the way; going easy on the three officers who had shot Terrence Reynolds had been the clincher. For once, he'd come out of an IAB investigation Olivia was involved with looking like the good guy; just as crucially, ADA Barba had looked like the bad guy. So when Liv had needed someone to talk to, someone who was on her side, he'd made sure that it had been him. And when she'd subsequently been forced to name someone she trusted, someone who cared about her, she'd chosen him.

Things had evolved from there, slowly and gently, and he'd gladly let her set the pace on just about every aspect apart from one. She'd been a little reluctant to do so but had eventually agreed not to disclose their relationship - to anyone. He wasn't stupid; Liv might be willing to overlook their history but he knew that others would not be so understanding. And, despite the distance that had still lain between the two of them, there was one person in particular whose influence he wanted removed from the equation: Rafael Barba. If anyone was capable of making Liv question their relationship it was the ADA; he wasn't sure just how close she'd been to Barba but it reminded him far too much of the Stabler years. He couldn't risk going back to that. There'd been an unexpected bonus from all the secrecy; when Barba had found out the truth, he'd been too angry with Liv for not confiding in him to care about her or who she was sleeping with. He'd almost felt sorry for the guy - he'd been on the receiving end of Liv's cold shoulder over the years - but then Barba had gone to OnePP and any sympathy had quickly turned to anger.

Letting his gaze slide back to the phone, he tapped at the screen, opening up the message and smiling briefly at the information it relayed. It was a little hypocritical of him to be angry with the ADA for disclosing his relationship with Liv; after all, it was the right thing to do and he'd gone after enough police officers over the years for failing to do just that. But he had: the action had risked not only his job with IAB but Liv's too - and he couldn't have that. Not again. When Barba had used Liv to get an indictment in the Reynolds case, after practically accusing him of covering for the three officers involved with the shooting, she'd been so upset that he'd vowed to make the ADA pay. He couldn't respond physically and just slam Barba up against a wall - the man was a lawyer and there was no doubt in his mind that charges would be brought against him - so he'd gone for the psychological approach; a few texts, a few hang ups, the vaguest of threats - just enough to make the other man feel uncomfortable, as he had done to Liv. If he was being honest, he'd enjoyed torturing the smug bastard so when both he and Liv had returned to their respective jobs, and no-one seemed to be scrutinising him quite so closely, he'd decided to take the threats up a notch.

He typed out a quick reply on his phone, careful not to move too much and wake Liv, and smiling all the while at the thought of Barba pissing his expensive pants in that elevator. Finding the perfect proxy hadn't been too difficult; there were enough low-lifes in the city, both criminals and cops, who held a grudge against ADA Barba. Felipe Heredio, perhaps in stark contrast to the size of his - or his gang's - grudge, hadn't demanded much money to carry out the threats on a face-to-face basis. It was disappointing that he couldn't do it himself, more so that he couldn't witness it, but it was enough. It would only be a matter of time before NYPD picked up the BX9 member but he wasn't overly concerned. He knew how an investigation worked and had covered all his bases. Heredio wouldn't talk - he had too much to lose - and if he did talk, he'd just be another criminal with a grudge, slinging unsubstantiated mud. He was fairly confident that Liv wouldn't be too concerned about Barba either; she'd barely blinked an eye when Heredio had confronted the ADA outside the courthouse. But, just in case, maybe he'd suggest they go on a trip together, somewhere overseas.

At the sound of approaching footsteps he dialled down his smile to a grim line. Whatever the news, he would be there - would be the only one there - for Liv; and he always would.