A/N: Well, I've been seriously slacking about posting over here. But this is a little idea that came to me while watching a promo for this week's episode, Solitary. Take a look it's really inspiring :) - .com/watch?v=_A6dnP5izig

Hope you like what I've got so far. It's most likely going to get a little smutty in chapter 2. If that bothers you but still want to read, shoot me an email. I'm also trying to adapt chapter 2 to a less smutty version. Let me know what you think!

*~~~~~*

Vortex

"To catch a killer, he's going to have to live like a killer."

Chapter 1: To catch a killer

He sat in the small cell staring at the ceiling. He'd exhausted all his energy earlier as he paced back and forth. His mind was a maze of thoughts. Every turn made things more confusing. Every turn resulted in a dead end. If only he'd been able to look at the entire maze before he was tossed into it. Every fucking path looked the fucking same. Every choice he made was crucial. His life depended on it.

Standing, he started pacing around the cell again. Not that he really could pace around it. This was solitary confinement. There was a small bed and a desk and not much space in between. This was torture. They had no idea just how much. He laughed bitterly. They thought it was punishment to be separated. What they really didn't know was that the real torture was the thoughts inside his head. Pausing he laughed again. No. They probably knew that too. But his thoughts had nothing to do with his ponderings on his guilt. His thoughts had nothing to do with guilt or innocence or wrong doings. A sharper laugh expelled from his upturned lips. If they only knew. His body tensed as he continued to run through the maze in his head. His heart rate accelerated and he knew he had to do something before he started beating the mocking cinderblock wall before him.

Ripping the gray shirt from his body he dropped to the floor and started pumping up and down. He felt the fire in his arms as he did push-up after push-up. It was the only thing that seemed to keep his mind off of…everything.

He'd been so obsessed with catching this killer that he jumped up when Cragen said someone would have to go undercover. His eyes flitted to his partner as the look of horror spread across her face like wild fire. He didn't know if the look was her concern for his safety or if it was there because of her own memories of going undercover in a prison.

They held eyes for a long moment before Cragen's voice stole his attention away from her. The older man gave him an intense stare and attempted to say something that was most likely an argument about his participation given the outcome of the case thus far. As the first word started to break through his lips, he stopped then shut his mouth and nodded. Jerking his head toward his office, he turned and made his way there. The detective silently obeyed the command and followed him.

Once he was in the office he was directed to sit. He hadn't wanted to but he did nevertheless. Cragen turned on his most intimidating fatherly look and stared at his detective. He asked if he even had to caution the determined man about this assignment. Of course he did. This was Elliot Stabler. He was bred from fire and passion. There wasn't a moment he shouldn't be cautioned but that was the reason he was good at what he did. He took that fire and passion and aimed it toward his job. It was the safest of targets.

Gritting his jaw and shaking his head he reassured his captain that he could handle this. After releasing a defeated breath, Cragen nodded his head and told Elliot he'd clear it and make sure he knew the details. Elliot nodded appreciatively then got up and walked out. The moment he stepped out of the office his arm was wrapped in a firm grasp. His body was pulled toward the opposite side of the squad room. Heels clicked furiously as he was dragged up the stairs and into the crib. After the door was shut firmly, the figure before him spun quickly. Her eyes were sparked in fury.

"What was that?" Her throat threatened to tighten with every word and her knees shook so hard it looked like she was about to crumble to the floor.

"What was what?" he asked defiantly. He really didn't want to talk to her about this.

"That. Downstairs. What was that all about?" She crossed her arms under her chest and waited for his answer. None came. "You're really thinking about going undercover?"

"So?" he replied flippantly.

"Elliot. This isn't a laughing matter. Do you have –"

"So now you're going to warn me about going undercover in a prison?" He took threatening steps toward her, his own eyes starting to ignite in anger. "Don't even start that shit with me, Benson," he growled in her face.

She gasped and took a step away from him but he wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her back to him.

"Are you going to tell me about Sealview?"

"I already –"

"No…are you really going to tell me about Sealview." His voice was so low it was almost inaudible. "I know you think you appeased me with your little tale but I know there's more to it."

Her breaths shortened as she struggled to keep her eyes locked with his. "This isn't the time, Elliot."

"It's never the time," he said releasing her arm and pushing away from her. "Thanks for the concern." Turning he took a few steps to the door.

"Are you at least going to tell your wife you're going undercover this time?" she asked in a biting tone.

She was furious with him for throwing that back in her face. They had agreed he wouldn't pester about Sealview anymore if she told him what happened. She had told him about Sealview but she might have left some things out of her story. Like the true fear she felt and still felt from it. Sometimes her heart would start to beat manically in her chest at just the sound of handcuffs tightening on wrists or the door to the holding cell snapping shut. She wasn't ready to tell him that. Not yet.

When he turned, his eyes found hers. They locked in an unwavering glare. Before she knew it he was in front of her. She couldn't even recall him taking the steps.

"How is that your concern?"

"Are you serious?"

Her eyes flared in warning and she straightened up to her full height. They stood chest to chest, almost snarling at each other.

"You go undercover again and don't tell Kathy you'll be safer here than home. Call her."

Her words scrambled noisily around in her head. She remembered the night well. If only all their undercover assignments, impromptu or otherwise, ended with him in his underwear and her body wrapped around his. Her breath caught as she shook the thought from her head. Not the time, Olivia.

"What did I tell you last time?" Her voice, her eyes – everything – about her was condescending as she narrowed her eyes at him and her face transformed into a scowl.

His eyes widened. His head tilted to the side. She actually just sneered at him. She had just become him. He couldn't believe it so he did what he did best. He played dirty.

"No, Olivia. What did you tell me last time? Enlighten me."

Of course he wanted to fight about this. She already had images of his scantily clad body in her head and the feel of her draped across the expanse of his chest and now he wanted to fight. She'd never been more frustrated in her life. If he only knew what his dark look and gravelly voice did to her. If he did, he wouldn't be using those as his weapons.

"Elliot." She sighed and took a step away from him.

He quickly closed the distance between them and stared down his nose, right into her eyes. "Tell me," he said in a low whisper.

She could feel his pulse. It exuded from his body like he was a fucking loud speaker at a rock concert. The floor shook under her feet. She had to get herself together. He was just trying to intimidate her. She'd seen it thousands of times in the interrogation room. It didn't work on her. She was immune to it. Right? Her eyes rolled back and she closed her eyes quickly to hide it from him. Unfortunately, he used it to his advantage and took another step closer to her. Fuck. The curse rattled around in her brain relentlessly. It broke all her coherent thoughts into nonsense.

Tightening her lips she begged her body not to respond. She begged the sigh not to release from her body. Swallowing it, she reopened her eyes and looked into his. His nose was almost touching hers. She wondered how she didn't feel his breath in her face. He was too close. Taking another step back she collided with a bunk bed. She pleaded with her knees not to give out and give him the leverage he wanted over her. Her body shivered at the thought. No, she thought. She wouldn't let him tower over her while she was lying helplessly on the bottom bunk. She swallowed hard again.

"Tell…tell you what?" she asked breathlessly.

"Tell me what you told me last time." He bent his head impossibly close to hers and the only thing she could focus on were his lips.

He smiled as he caught her staring at his lips. She was right where he wanted her. His tongue slowly emerged and swiped along his bottom lip. He could almost hear her entire body sigh. His body reacted, as he pressed closer to her.

She almost collapsed when she felt his entire body lean into hers. Her eyes almost burst into flames as she watched him slowly lick his lips. They were so close to hers. Fuck. He laughed. Her eyes snapped to his.

"What?" she asked softly.

"Did you just say 'fuck'?"

Fuck. She had said it out loud. With all her might, she resisted the urge to cringe. Taking a deep breath she looked toward her toes.

"No."

He laughed. His body gently rocked hers as his laughter was released. If she was anyone else, she would have blushed and cowered toward a darkened corner to hide. But she was Olivia Benson. Badass Benson. She almost laughed the first time she heard the nickname. It fit, she thought. It at least kept all the extraneous shit from her, drama wise. Her drama card was full of Elliot. He contained more drama than an episode of a primetime drama.

"Liv," he said still laughing. "You did. I heard you." His eyes lightened slightly as the laughter worked through him.

God, did she just see a twinkle in there? She was fucked. She took another breath and tried to stand tall again but his body prevented it from happening. Sensing her trying to shift the leverage, he leaned into her more. Her jaw tensed and her eyes lifted to his.

"What are you doing?"

He smiled, borrowing a little bit of her sneer from earlier. "Tell me, Olivia."

Jesus. His voice dripped with sex. When did his voice drip with sex? And when did she start noticing this? This wasn't the time. She was supposed to be furious with him for taking this undercover assignment.

"Why did you volunteer?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" His eyes shaded with confusion at her abrupt turn.

"Why?" she asked again more insistently. "You're not the only detective on this squad, Elliot. Why does it always have to be you?"

"I could turn that right around on you, you know?" A brief smile flashed on his face before he wiped it away. This was his chance to ask about Sealview again. He lowered his face toward her and looked into her eyes. "Why you and not me?"

Her eyes grew wide. "What?"

"I'm turning this around on you, Olivia." He narrowed for a second as he watched her face fill with conflict. It was about spill over when he tipped his head back slightly. "This isn't the Olivia Benson show. Sometimes we're needed for things too, you know."

"You bastard."

Her hand flew up to connect with his cheek. He easily caught her by the wrist and smiled. He anticipated it. It's why he goaded her. This had played out many times in his head.

"Let go of me," she said struggling against his grasp.

His eyes almost lit up at her panic. It wasn't because he enjoyed scaring her but because he could see how he truly was affecting her. There was passion in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to push him against the opposite wall and that was exciting to him. He always secretly loved how heated their arguments were. It's why he taunted her like he did. Most of the time. Sometimes it was vicious and he'll always regret those times but most of the time he did it to get a rise out of her because there was nothing more sexy than an enraged Olivia Benson.

"Let. Go." She struggled a little more, pulling her arm toward her. Her fist tightened. "Elliot." Her other hand flew up to slap him. But he easily caught that one too. They stood with a few inches between them and both her wrists captured by his hands. "Elliot," she gritted out dangerously. "Let me go."

He laughed and let go of her wrists. They dropped to her side. She stared at him as her heart beat furiously. She couldn't tell if it was because he grabbed her or something else. Opening her mouth, she started to say something but stopped. Her brow wrinkled as she rested her head back against the soft mattress of the top bunk. She hated that he could get under her skin the way he did.

"Liv?" His tone was softer than before and his hands gently ran down her arms and stopped on the wrists he had just held in his tight hold. He gripped them lightly and squeezed, trying to get her attention. "Liv, are you okay? I didn't mean to…"

She started laughing. Loudly. She couldn't contain it and she wasn't even sure why she was doing it. "Sorry," she managed to say through laughs. "Sorry." She cleared her throat and wiped her tearing eyes.

"Want to share the punch line with me?" He squinted his eyes. He had been worried he was too rough with her, especially since they were talking about Sealview. He didn't mean to cause that kind of panic in here. And he definitely didn't want to be another person to make her feel unsafe.

"It's nothing. Just…you and me. We're ridiculous. You know that? Why are we even fighting?"

He smiled. Bending his head, he brought his arms up to rest on the frame of the bunk bed. His head almost touched her shoulder and he breathed deeply to stop it from resting on the blue fabric of her shirt. It wasn't a shirt of which he was particularly fond. The color of it reminded him of the day Eli was born. That day always brought with it a barrage of conflicting emotions. He wondered if it was the same one. He wondered how she got the blood from his son off of it. Looking back to her shirt, he thought that it looked really soft. Well, he knew it was soft. He had just run his hands down it. All he wanted was to rest his head on it and feel the softness from her chest press into him as she wrapped her arms around him.

"You were mad at me for taking this undercover."

She nodded her head and bit her lip. "Right," she said quietly. "I am." Her face dropped into a frown. As she thought, the anger started to build up inside her again. "Why are you such a bastard all the time? Why do you insist on being the hero all the time?"

"It's my responsibility. I'm a cop, Olivia. This is what we do," he said frustrated. He felt like he was talking to Kathy. "Why do I even need to defend that to you?" Lifting his head, he again looked into her eyes. "You're the last person I should have to defend this job to, Olivia."

"Why?" she said incredulously. "Because I'm a cop? I'm not reckless, Elliot. I don't do things just to get a rise out of someone. I don't use my…I don't need to intimidate people to make myself feel better or more like a…you know what, screw you. You do whatever you want." She tried to push past him but he stood firmly in place. "Elliot. Move."

He smiled down at her as she tried to get by her. She suddenly looked small and feminine to him. Had she not had that badge and gun strapped to her tantalizing hip, he would have grabbed her around the waist and hauled her against the wall himself. But he didn't want her to shoot him. He was lucky she didn't try to slap him again.

His head jerked to the side and he snapped to look at her. "What the hell was that for?" he asked bringing his hand up to his cheek.

"Move," she said angrily. "I'm not fighting anymore with you about this. You do whatever you want. Just make sure you tell your god damned wife this time. I'm not going to be the one picking up the pieces."

She easily stepped around his stunned form this time. However, she didn't get far. Four steps into her journey to the door he grabbed her arm and spun her back to him. She collided with his body and he used the surprise maneuver to push her up against the wall. He once again pressed his body into hers, loving the way she felt against him.

"Elliot. Get the fuck off of me." She tried to push against him to no avail; it only made him press further into her.

"I'll have you know you don't need to pick up the pieces this time," he growled in her ear.

Her heart hiccupped in her chest before accelerating rapidly. She fought hard to breathe through the reverberation of his voice and the feel of his body on hers.

"Go-Good," she said stuttering.

"Do you want to know why?"

His voice twisted around in her head like a tornado. She couldn't think with him this close much less form words.

"Do you?" he asked pulling his head away from her ear. Looking at her, he saw that he was affecting her. He smiled.

"Fine, you win," she responded breathlessly. "Why?"

"Because I'm not with Kathy anymore."

Her eyes enlarged and her face went blank. She's pretty sure she stopped breathing but she couldn't focus on it long enough to care. He's not with Kathy anymore. Did that mean what she thought?

"You okay, Liv?"

She stared at him wide-eyed. "What do you mean you're not with Kathy anymore?"

"Meaning we're divorced. It just happened."

As she opened her mouth to ask another question that just would have been his statement with a question mark at the end, his lips found hers. He kissed her, cupping her face with his hands. Moving his lips against hers, he felt all the fight leave her as she fell against the wall. Her hands found their way to the back of his shirt sleeves and she tightly gripped them, not wanting to let go. After a few moments, he smiled against her lips and pulled away.

"I'll see you in a few days." He touched his lips to hers once again then turned and left.

She stood there frozen in time for what seemed forever. Sure, she was reliving the last half hour in slow motion like a movie she would typically make fun of, but what choice did she have? He hit her with two of the most shocking statements that she's heard from him since he told her he was going back to Kathy and that she was pregnant. Then he ran. As she stood suspended in time, she tried to digest everything that just happened. She's not even sure how long she stood there. It was a miracle no one came looking for her. Maybe that was Elliot's doing. Maybe they had but he had stopped them, knowing she would need time to process what he just said and what he just did.

He'd just told her that he wasn't with Kathy. He'd just told her that he was divorced. How could he just drop a bomb on her like that, kiss her then leave?

This must be what it felt like to survive a tornado. Her tornado was Elliot. He chewed her up and spit her out, leaving her completely dazed and confused.

When she finally got herself together, she walked back downstairs. Her eyes immediately fell upon her partner's desk. It was clean of clutter, his chair was pushed under his desk with care and his monitor was off. He had left. Her heart beat heavily in her chest.

"He left," Fin said stating the obvious. He knew that she knew. Eyeing her carefully from his desk, he narrowed his eyes and took in the look on her face and the disheveled state of her hair and shirt. "You okay?" he asked, scowling slightly.

He never liked when those two stormed off like that. Someone always ended up getting hurt and it was usually Olivia. He almost felt it was his duty to look out for her ever since Sealview. He'd been incredibly protective of her since then, never being able to forget how he found her with Harris or the look on her face. It was pure fear. He'd really never seen on anyone the way he'd seen it on her. And he'd seen her wear pieces of that look around with her for a year.

She never really wanted to talk about it. Every now and then he'd get a little something out of her but she was usually very guarded about it. He understood. He had witnessed her at maybe the weakest moment in her life and she didn't want to be a part of it, much less have someone witness it. So he gave her the space she needed. It wasn't really his place to force her to talk but he did hope she talked to someone about it. He hoped she talked to Elliot about it. He was the person she really needed. Everyone knew that but he didn't have any qualms with stepping in when he saw fit.

"Yeah, fine." She looked at Elliot's desk then quickly toward the crib.

The look in her eye was the same that he'd seen in Elliot's right before he sprinted out of the bullpen. He wished they would just figure it out, already. Sighing, he turned back to his work. Every few minutes he would check her out of the corner of his eye to make sure she was okay. She seemed dazed, but okay.

At the end of the day she wondered if she should call him. He probably couldn't talk. He was probably in one of those many meetings or evaluations he had to do before he could go under. It's the only reason she could imagine that he would just leave after what he had done. Or maybe while she was upstairs trying to regroup he was downstairs regretting the whole thing. A loud groan worked its way through her head. Why did she always do this when it came to him? He always made her doubt everything at least personally. On the job there was no one she trusted more.

At the end of her very long argument with herself, she decided to just let whatever it was to follow its natural course. Predicting Elliot was like predicting the path of that tornado she was so fond of comparing him to.

*~~~~~*