I have set this loosely in season 11 - it doesn't link to any episodes. EO of course :-) rated T, some occasional language and violence, but It should be safe as a T. I have also just started Hold which is M rated.

PROLOGUE

SVU SQUAD ROOM
11:30PM FRIDAY

Cragen came out of his office, turning off the light before closing the door and glancing across toward Olivia and Elliot's desks.

"Go home, the paperwork can wait, this day has given us all headaches we didn't need."

Olivia stretched her arms above her head and stifled a yawn, "Just wanna put this behind us and think about something else tomorrow."

"Well, if you're too tired to concentrate you'll only be re writing it all, so pack up and head home. Sleep," he said as he made his way toward the elevator.

"You heard the man, let's call it a night Liv, i'll text Fin, he can wake Munch up, cap will be starting to think we all live here," Elliot said, "need a ride?"

"Thanks," Olivia said as she stood, "I do feel pretty exhausted - honestly I've been fighting the urge to fall asleep at my desk."

"Yeah, I know what you mean - can't remember the last time I felt this tired," Elliot said.

Elliot grabbed his phone and sent a quick text message to Fin before placing it back into his pocket, and putting on his jacket.

He pressed the button on on the elevator, realising that they had a moment to wait for it to come back up, and cast a glance at Olivia.

Olivia felt his eyes resting on her and turned to look at him.

"Any plans this weekend?...assuming no call outs that is," she said.

Elliot drew his eyes away from hers, and fixed his gaze on the elevator, "No. Now it's summer, Kathy thought this might be the ideal time to... take the kids to stay with her parents - no school to worry about…"

"El...you mean for a vacation, or…?" Olivia asked tentatively.

"Not quite…" Elliot said uncomfortably.

Olivia sighed, turning to face him, "I'm sorry El, that's not fair on any of you, it's not as if they live nearby. When did she leave?"

"Three weeks ago," he said as he hit the elevator button again in annoyance.

Olivia sighed, wishing Elliot had felt able to talk to her, but not wanting to voice that feeling right now.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked.

"No, not really...you wanna get a drink though? Feels like too long since we've done that," Elliot said.

"Let's do that then," smiled Olivia.

"We'll have to take the stairs..what's wrong with the elevator tonight?" Elliot said as he impatiently hit the button again.

Olivia reached in her pocket and took out her phone, "I just need to reply to this…" she said, as she leaned against the elevator door, resting her head as she forgot the cell phone in her hand and closed her eyes.

Elliot froze and turned around with a look of confusion and caution, "Liv...you ok?"

Olivia blinked, opening her eyes, and tried to clear the fog in her mind. Slipping her phone into her back pocket, she looked at him, the edge of concern in his voice quite clear.

"What is it?" she asked, frowning.

"You don't look too good Liv…" said Elliot, as he reached forward, intending to place his hand on her forehead, wondering if she was burning up. His coordination took a step sideways however, and he missed her completely, his hand landing heavily on the elevator door next to her.

Olivia felt her eyes closing again, and slumped slightly realising with alarm that her muscles would not cooperate -she could not move from the spot she was attempting to stand in.

"Liv...something's wrong.." Elliot said, as his head swam.

Fin made his way up the stairs, cursing at the timing of the elevator to go out of service right when he had gone out to grab some food. On the first floor he slowed his step, tensing. The building was quiet at that time of night, but there were a handful of people scattered throughout the building in various departments.

Coming to a complete halt one floor below the squad room, he concentrated; the sound of muffled voices soon drawing his attention. Something instinctively felt wrong - unable to make out the words, the tone of the voices put him on guard straight away. Placing his bag of take out on the stair, and drawing his weapon, he made his way up the remaining stairs and paused at the door.

The voices were louder now, and agitated - his squad room was one floor higher, but his instincts told him to check on the situation. Raised voices were not uncommon - they were par for the course really given the things they dealt with every day, but his gut told him something was wrong.

Inching the door slightly open he tensed - through his limited field of vision at the crack in the door, he scanned the room as best as he could.

Fin immediately eased the door closed as he stepped back, pulling out his phone and sending out a silent alert as he quickly and quietly continued past the door and up the last flight of stairs into the SVU squad room.

Moving quickly through the doors he was relieved to see Olivia and Elliot but a flash of concern struck him when he noticed that Elliot had his arm around her waist, trying to walk her toward the door. He crossed the room to ask them what had happened and update them on what was happening downstairs when Munch drew their attention.

He had stopped halfway down the stairs leading from the crib, and was leaning against the wall, staring into the squad room, confused momentarily before his eyes flashed with a sudden panic when he spotted Olivia and Elliot and realisation dawned on him.

"Get out of here!" he shouted, as he moved down the remaining steps, bracing himself against the wall, watching in alarm as Olivia dropped to the floor.

CHAPTER 1

ONE HOUR LATER

Elliot opened his eyes and instantly squeezed them shut against the pain in his head. Shifting uncomfortably he tried to lift his head and placed his hands on the floor pushing himself up. As soon as he tried to sit up a wave of nausea and dizziness hit him hard and he pushed onto his hands and knees taking a steadying breath before trying to clear his head.

Staring at the ground underneath him, he tried to focus and figure out what the hell had happened and where he was. Raising his head he was suddenly struck with a feeling of dread as his eyes scanned the room and instantly fell upon the other people lying unconscious on the ground.

Using all his strength to get to his feet, he quickly took in the scene; Olivia and Munch were unmoving and he assumed, unconscious.

Sensing movement to the left he spun around, a little too quickly and gripped his desk for support...his desk; they were in the squad room.

"What the fuck happened?" said Fin as he pulled himself up using his desk to steady himself.

Elliot shook his head, trying to rid himself of the fog of confusion.

"I don't know...we were..." Elliot began, but couldn't remove his focus from Olivia's unconscious form. He stumbled over to her, dropping to his knees beside her as he took her wrist in his hand and checked her pulse.

"She ok?" Fin said as he made his way over to Munch and did the same.

"Yeah, her pulse is steady - Munch?" Elliot asked.

"Same here. What the hell were we hit with?" Fin asked.

"I can't remember anything after...you broke the window..." Elliot said

"Gas. The room was filling with gas..." Fin said.

Elliot slipped off his jacket and balled it up, carefully lifting Olivia's head and placing it underneath before gently resting her head back down again.

He gave a sigh as he sat on the floor next to her and let his eyes take in the squad room.

The room was in a state of disarray; chairs turned over, papers and photographs scattered across the floor and shattered glass from a broken window. The holding cell, which had housed two suspects, was disturbingly unoccupied.

Fin made his way to his desk and picked up his phone, as Elliot reached into his pocket for his cellphone.

"Line's dead," Fin said.

"My cell's gone, what about yours?" Elliot asked.

Fin checked his pocket and shook his head before noticing a sudden change in Elliot's expression.

"What is it?" Fin asked warily.

Elliot looked at Fin, "I don't have my gun either..."

Fin moved straight to Munch and checked his pockets for his cellphone, while Elliot did the same to Olivia.

"His are gone too," Fin said, frustrated.

Elliot hesitated as his hands hovered over Olivia before checking the pockets of her jacket. Fin watched him impatiently as he tensed.

"Has she got her phone or not?" Fin asked, as he grew more impatient by the minute.

"Wait.. I remember - we were going home...I asked her if she needed a lift...we were walking to the elevator..her phone buzzed, she took it out, sent a text and put it in her back pocket," Elliot said, trying to shake the off the fog clouding his memory.

"Did you check her pocket?" Fin said, growing frustrated.

Elliot knelt next to Olivia and hesitated, debating how to approach the situation, given that he didn't know which pocket she had put it in. He could almost feel Fin's stare as he stalled and considered whether it was bordering on inappropriate to search her for her cellphone.

"Stabler, just check!"

Elliot rolled her onto her side carefully, one hand steadying her hip as he slid a hand into the back pocket of her pants, trying very hard not to press his fingers against her, and not think about the fact that he was unavoidably touching her ass as his fingers closed around her cellphone and as he pulled it out.

He let out the breath he didn't realise he had been holding and hoped that Fin had not picked up on his hesitation, as he positioned her more comfortably on her side.

They had long established unspoken boundaries - but lately it just seemed that it was becoming harder and harder. He was unintentionally distancing himself further from her physically and emotionally and he knew that it was impacting their relationship. He wasn't trying to push her away, but he didn't know how else to handle it; his feelings, his ever growing desire for her were becoming harder and harder to ignore.

She had been so supportive to him, to his family; she told him to talk to his wife when his marriage was falling apart, she had been a good friend to him in every way. She supported him far more than he felt he deserved; she was everything a best friend could be - he couldn't ruin that.

He was just too afraid of her discovering his feelings - he couldn't bear the loss if she didn't feel the same. He had been separated twice now - this time just felt more final, but that didn't make it easier, didnt make it feel ok to hold these feelings for Olivia. Kathy was stiĺl his wife after all, but while he cared about her, felt obligated to her and respected her, he had given up trying to fix things. Their marriage had broken years ago - they had simply attempted to repair their broken bond repeatedly, neither quite going that final step in admitting that they needed to do something about it.

His feelings for Olivia were far more obvious to him now - now that he didn't feel this unending sense of duty and responsibility to his wife. That was not the only barrier however - he didn't see how it could not impact their friendship and their partnership if he broached the subject of his feelings; her part in his life, he valued it more than he could ever tell her.

Elliot looked at Olivia's phone and typed in her unlock code.

"It's on, signal and battery ok."

They wasted no more time trying to work out what had happened. Elliot began to make a call but just as he began speaking he heard Olivia groan and immediately passed the phone to Fin.

He moved over to her quickly and crouched down, his hand resting against her shoulder in concern as Fin started talking on the phone, relaying the details of their situation.

"Liv," he said, as he put an arm around her back and lifted her into a sitting position, "Liv, we have a situation here, you ok?"

Olivia's head swam, and she stared in confusion at the chaotic scene before her in the squad room.

"Olivia - we were knocked out, the phones are dead, come on, i'm gonna help you up," he said, as he pulled her slowly to her feet and moved her over to a nearby chair, his hand remaining lightly on her arm as he looked at her, waiting for her to come around more fully.

Elliot fought the urge to reach up and run his fingers through her hair - it was almost overwhelming; this need to touch her. It had been consuming him recently, and he had been trying his damndest to make sure he didn't act on it and risk losing the best friend he had ever had, but he was beginning to wonder how much longer he could keep ignoring his feelings.

Olivia blinked and tried to clear her blurred vision as she gradually regained her senses, her hand moving to her throat as Elliot moved his hand to the shoulder, resting it lightly there.

"Ok," she said slowly, as she leant back in the chair, her eyes closing, "my throat is burning - what were we knocked out with?"

"Some kinda gas," Fin said, as he ended the call.

"Look, there's some serious shit going down here," Fin continued, "The building's sealed - they don't know if the perps got out or not, but they busted those two creeps from our cage."

"What else did they say Fin?" Olivia asked.

"Sixteen people were evacuated, they need us to confirm that the perps got out - building's sealed until we do. That's all they have right now, but they need us calling in every thirty minutes," Fin said.

"They know what we were knocked out with?" asked Elliot, as he moved over to Munch, who was now beginning to move, and put his hands under his arms, shifting him until his back was against a wall, hoping that the change in position would rouse him.

Munch murmured and began to open his eyes, "What…" he began.

"Go slow old man, you've been knocked out by sleeping gas," Fin said.

Munch opened his eyes slowly, wincing at the pain in his throat, "And when did the hurricane hit the squad room? " he asked, as he glanced around the room taking in the aftermath.

"Buildings sealed, and we need to figure out if anyone else is in here with us, Liv's phone is the only line outta here, least we got that," Fin said.

"Ok….we need a game plan here," Elliot said, "we need to know who we're dealing with here - they're armed, they have our weapons, and we don't even know if they are in here."

"Not liking those odds, we need to arm up," Fin added.

Munch rested his head against the wall and battled to focus, "They are organised enough to orchestrate something like this - and have access to a large volume of an oneirogenic expected to get what they came for and be out of here before we woke up nursing hangovers from hell, but now they're trapped in here."

Munch took a breath, fighting a wave of dizziness, "We were lucky, this type of gas used at a high volume could be lethal. The military ran a psychochemical warfare program back in the 70s, imagine how far they would have perfected it by now."

Munch felt the eyes of the other three detectives on him, and looked up, shrugging, "Hey, not saying this is a military attack, just that whoever did this must have some kind of link to get access to this sort of incapacitating agent."

Olivia stood up, taking a breath and remaining still for a moment, ensuring her dizziness had subsided enough that her balance would not be affected.

"Cragen's office - he keeps his backup there - they might not have got that. One weapon between four of us is hardly ideal, but it's something. Anyone know the code for the lock box?" Olivia said.

Twenty minutes later, and the effects of the gas was wearing off enough that each of them had regained their senses enough to focus and discuss a game plan. They had been able to talk with Cragen on the phone, who they were relieved to know was on the other side of the sealed building, and they soon had his backup weapon. It only went a small way to redressing the balance however, as one gun between all four detectives was of little comfort.

Olivia walked more steadily over to Munch, who was now seated at his desk.

"If you're throat feels anything like mine, you'll need this," Olivia said, as she handed him a cup of water before taking a seat on the edge of his desk.

"Thanks Liv, haven't woken up feeling this ill for a long time," he said with a slight laugh, "given our side effects though, this does point to an oneirogenic agent, which should pass quickly enough, but could so easily have been fatal. There are far more sinister agents they could have used, believe me. We have got off very lightly - so they weren't planning on killing us all...if they came for those two in the lockup, then why the chaos in here? What else were they looking for?"

"Maybe nothing - those two were pretty pissed - they could have done this damage in two minutes, they had time once we were all out," Fin said.

"This sort of attack is used more often than most people realise. There have been an increasing number of cases in Europe where people have been anesthetized with gas and robbed while unconscious. Those were all smaller enclosed spaces though - trailers usually, where it takes effect fast. This is a much bigger more open area, they must have pumped it in through the vents - and a lot of it," Munch said.

"So they pumped gas through the vents, not easy busting two perps out, but isn't this overkill?" Elliot asked.

Olivia frowned, "Our people would have cut the phone and lifts when they sealed the building - we need to find out if we're alone in here, it's lockdown until we do" she said, ignoring the slight headache and sore throat that were beginning to fade somewhat.

"Well, they planned to get in and out, if their plan has gone wrong and they're trapped in here - we need to locate them and get control of this," Munch said.

Outside the building, Cragen was worried, knowing there was nothing he could do to get his team out. The nearby streets were cordoned off, and outside of the immediate area around the precinct, a sea of SWAT and squad cars had amassed. Nearby, EMT's were still checking over the officers who had been evacuated, but there had been no fatalities, which was at least some comfort to Cragen. He found it hard to share in the almost enthusiastic attitude of the hostage negotiator, who saw the advantage in having detectives inside the building who could covertly update them on the situation.

Looking up at the broken window on the floor where the detectives were currently trying to form a plan, he felt gravely concerned. They needed to establish contact with the perpetrators at their end, and hope that his people did not become hostages.

Once they had discussed how best to approach the situation with their ability to communicate significantly reduced, they split up; Munch and Fin taking the stairs going to the upper floors, and Olivia and Elliot the lower floors. They needed to canvas for other people who might be injured as well as confirm if the perps were still in the building. With no radios and only one cell phone and one gun, they had eventually reached the decision that one team would take the phone and the other the gun, which they would keep concealed so that they would appear unarmed and less of a threat to the intruders.

Olivia glanced fleetingly at Elliot as they walked silently through the doors and into the floor below, where Fin had spotted the intruders. Pausing at first to listen, they could hear no sign of any occupants and relaxed slightly, not expecting that the people they were looking for would be there.

Briefly splitting up, they each walked through the rooms, and quickly returned to the door by the staircase.

"It makes sense that would have gone to the ground floor," Olivia said.

"They could have gone up - if they thought about trying to cross to another roof to get down that way," Elliot said.

"Only one way to know then," Olivia said.

Olivia made a move to push open the door and was surprised when his hand instantly covered hers. She paused, not using any pressure to push the door open; the feel of Elliot's hand over hers quite unexpected. She wondered why she wasn't moving - he had simply made the same motion that she had at the same time - they both went for the door...yet she found herself unable to move. Pushing the door open, putting that momentum in action, would break the moment - the feel of their hands touching.

Suddenly aware of him taking a step closer to her, his body behind her, but not touching, she admonished herself; what on earth would he be thinking if she just continued to stand there and didn't push the door open? Yet he had stepped closer toward her and he was not pushing the door open either. They both hesitated, both stalled; both gave themselves into the feel of the others warmth for a fleeting moment.

Swallowing, she took a breath and turned her head slightly at the feel of his hand squeezing gently over hers. Her mind began to spin - it was only seconds in reality, just seconds of his hand over hers, yet time seemed to stand still - she felt locked in that moment, the warmth of his hand on hers, his closeness, his touch.

She heard him exhale as he pressed against her hand, pushing the door open before dropping his hand away. She walked through the door and turned to face him briefly, his eyes met hers, and a warmth - an affection, passed between them, which gave Olivia a small smile. She could honestly get quite lost in a moment like that if she ever had the right moment - or the boldness to make a move and take a risk.

Moving quickly down the stairs, they focused, and approached the door to the ground floor - preparing to discover what might be behind the doors. Pausing, they were aware of the silence at the other side of the door, and feeling confident Elliot pushed the door open cautiously, and walked through. Olivia followed him inside, and glanced around.

The room had obviously been occupied recently - desks were pushed to the side and their eyes drew to a smear of blood on the floor in front of them. Exchanging a cautious glance, they walked side by side, both aware of the very light touch of the other, as their hands briefly brushed, the feather light contact not unnoticed by either of them.

They moved forwards into the silence of the room, beginning to feel satisfied that the floor was empty, when their confidence was suddenly shook. Olivia jumped slightly when all at once the lights went out, enveloping them in darkness.

I am assuming that their backup weapons were taken too, but that Cragen would not have taken a backup home with him. If that's the case there must be somewhere secure that he would keep it. I also wasn't sure exactly which floor the squad room was on - so took an educated guess. (has this ever been established? I watched an ep where you saw the inside of the elevator and there were ten numbered floors but none of the buttons were illuminated when the doors opened.)

Next chapter coming very soon - Elliot gets a little bolder about his feelings, but they soon run into danger.