Who's ready for some angst!? I sure am and wanting to shove someone into the hospital and play the blame games. Disclaimer: Maria is my own creation. Munch, Benson, Tutuola, Stabler, Cragen and a possible few others belong to Law and Order: SVU. Title is a song title by Within Temptation. Other such names/places/roads/locations are figments of my own kooky imagination.

Endless hours of staring at crime scene photos and evidence that had been collected was not bringing the case any closer to closing. Five year old Gloria Smithson was still in the hospital, sedated into a coma, and the chance of her waking from it where not looking any better as the days went on. The coffee maker was working over time, the crib had basically become a crash pad for all on the case, and the primary detective on the case was downing more pain killers for her growing migraine.

Rubbing her temples with her index fingers and groaning in exhaustion, Maria Frank opened her sore eyes and her first sight was her file. "C'mon Gloria...what are you not telling me, sweetie," She whispered to herself, in hopes her plea would be answered.

"Got a call from the hospital," Cragen's voice caused his people to raise their exhausted heads from what they were doing. "Gloria Smithson's brain function is failing drastically. If she dies before we catch our suspect, Frank, the charge with be changed from assault to first degree murder." His eyes locked on Maria's frowning face, not liking how he had empathized her last name. Standing over to her desk and lowering his voice for her to only hear, Don made another point clear. "I had removed this case from Stabler for a reason, Detective. Do I need to remind you why I chose you do to this case, with Munch as your partner?"

"No, sir."

"Good," He stood back up and raised his voice once again. "What do we have to catch our suspect, people?" The little girl's step father, Dean Kurn, was their number one suspect in the case as a hair strand that did not below to her mother, biological father, nor her baby sitter had been found among her clothes. "What do we have that points to Dean?"

"He's been avoiding all questions we have tossed at him, even acting cool when we showed him the pictures of his step daughter." Fin spoke up, to save Maria from another verbal beat down. "His lawyer had us toss out the DNA evidence we had collect to match to the hair. It didn't match up by three points and we were forced to let him go."

"So, what are we going to do now?"

Standing up and grabbing for her file, Maria stood before the board and scanned what they had, including what road Gloria had been found on - five blocks from her step father's house. "I'm done playing cat and fucking mouse with this putz." Frowning and grinding her teeth in frustration, Maria pounded the board with her fist. "We're going to sit on him-"

"The guy's more paranoid then you and Munch put together, Frank," Elliot interrupted. "He'll figure out that we'll be watching him and he'll file for harassment."

Maria's head turned around and stared at him with a dangerous look. "I wasn't done talking, Detective Stabler." She hissed out, wanting to bite him where it would hurt. "Are you doubting my skills about how I'm running this case?"

Elliot Stabler heaved out a sigh and avoided looking into her partner's glaring eyes. "No, ma'am."

"Good. Now, as I was saying, we are going to sit on him and this is how we are going to do it." A dangerous smile tugged over her lips as she reached for a permanent marker from John Munch desk, took a hold of a plain piece of paper and started to doodle her plan. "Okay, Stabler, Benson and I will be watching his house on foot. You," she pointed at John, "and Fin are going to be in an unmarked car and hiding in the shadows of the large oak tree that sits right here." She marked a spot on the paper. "As of right now, I'm planning for us to do this in a few days - highly tomorrow night - but I would like us to have a full night's rests for this stake out."

"Is this the full plan?" Cragen asked, watching her hand work fast with the picture she was drawing up.

"Not fully, but this plan will be done when I say when we do this." She stated firmly, showing she was in charge. "Work for you, Cap?"

"You're the primary, Frank. Before you head home from your shift, I want you and Munch to stop by the hospital and talk with the mother, but don't let her know what we are doing."

"I wouldn't dream of it, sir."

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"Elliot would have never came up with that idea like you had," John Munch commented, trying to keep up with her quick strides. Some days, she would have to jog to keep up with him, but today...he had to move fast to keep up with her. "He'd beat and choke the suspect to almost unconscious to get what he wanted." Making sure they had the right car, John slipped into the driver's seat and waited for Maria to get in beside him.

"That's because I don't see killing the guy getting me any closer to getting my confession."

"You're just trying to slip your way around getting the right confession." He gave her a wink as he started to car up and headed in the direction of hospital.

Maria turned her head to look at him, a small smile on her lips. "Was that a secretly hidden sex reference I just caught?" John smiled for the first time in days and nodded. "You're terrible sometimes."

"That's why you love me, babe." He continued to smile at her, observing her carefully as her smile faded and turned her head to watch people outside. "What did Cragen tell you earlier?"

"He was wondering if he had to remind me of why I'm on that case and not Stabler." Her hand moved up to pinch the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut to stop her headache. "I haven't slept properly in five days, but I swear this migraine has been stalking me for seven days instead."

"I didn't know you had one," Concern rose in his voice, his face etched in worry. "How bad are they?"

"Bad, but I'm a tough girl." She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. "I've taken all pain killers known to man kind, but I think the only cure for it is the close this case."

John pondered of what he could do to help her before speaking again. "How about some few hours rest in the crib?"

"Tried that...they need to get some new sheets and blankets in there."

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice rose a notch, upset that she didn't make any notion to tell him she was in pain. Seeing her grimacing from his tone, he reached out and smoothed his hand over her thigh. "I'm sorry my voice rose, but I don't like seeing you in pain."

"I know... I'm sorry, John." Her hand moved over his and grasped his fingers. "I've been stuck with this case in my head and I just couldn't find the right time to tell you."

Passing by their favorite coffee stop on weekday mornings, John Munch released a heavy sigh and offered up another suggestion. "How about a coffee when we go back to the house?"

"I'm tired of coffee right now. I've had enough coffee at work to grow enough mold to last me a life time." John shot her a serious look. "Oh, how about this... when we come back from the hospital, how about a chocolate egg cream drink instead of a coffee?"

"Make it a deal that you'll promise me you'll take a few hours rest in the crib? I can loan you my extra blanket that's in my locker that I brought from my place. " He turned his head to her while they were at a stop light. "It's won't make you itch like the ones in the crib."

"Deal. Going home anyway, so I'll get a small nap, finish up my work, clock out and go home." Maria winked in his direction and promised to herself to seal their deal with a kiss when they weren't in public. Once the light had turned green and the traffic started moving again, they both sat in silence until they had reached the hospital. "Going to come up with me or stay here? This is only going to take a few minutes at the most."

Getting out and walking over to her side to hold the door open, he made it clear he was going in with her. "After you, my dear." Quietly making their way to the second floor and softly knocking on the door, the mother of the five year old Victim opened the door.

Seeing her face tear stained and her light colored eyes red from crying, Maria wondered if it was a bad time, but it was too late to leave now."Mrs. Smithson?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Detective Frank and this is my partner, Sergeant Munch. Would you mind if we come in?" Keeping with the feel of the case, Maria kept an low tone and her face relaxed from it's sternness to a concerned expression.

Stepping aside to allow them in and closing the door, Mrs. Smithson returned back to her vigil spot beside her daughter's small bed. "You can sit where you find comfortable," Her hoarse voice sounded small, her hand waving to a few open spots to sit. "I still don't quite understand the need for all these tubes and meters to be connected to my daughter. It's terrifying me, detectives."

"I understand that this is difficult, Mrs. Smithson. I really do," Frank sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. "There isn't much that I can say about your daughter's case, but have you received any threatening phone calls over the past few days."

"I haven't checked my home phone messages at all, but I haven't received anything on my cellphone." She blood shot eyes darted between the two. "Why? Is Dean threatening my life as well?"

"I can't say any more then that, but it was to turn that way, we would have a few uniformed officers watching your place and here. But, since it's not turning out that way, I'm just here to check up on your daughter and to find out if you have received any calls."

Mrs. Smithson stood up and walked over to the window, watching a fine layer of rain fall lightly on the buildings. "The doctors came in here, poked her legs, her arms, and then did more work on her brain function. My daughter is dying, detectives, and there is nothing I can do about it!" She snapped out her words, turning to look at the them, seeing the concern and worry on their faces. "Gloria is never going to reach her sixth birthday, never going to experience first grade and..." The distraught mother leaned against the wall and slide to the floor, crying into her hands. "I just want the bastard who harmed my daughter to be caught and to be hung by his balls."

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"That went very well," John quipped, slipping into the driver's seat and waited until Maria buckled herself in before starting it up."Want that Chocolate Egg Cream now?"

"Mind if I slip some vodka into it to forget that melt down?" Maria bit out, her arms crossed across her chest. "There are a few things that I hate about this job and it's children and watching the parents crumble before me when I can't say any more then what they have to know." Feeling her anger rising, Maria slammed the dashboard with the heel of her hand. "Jesus dammit to Hell!"

"Easy!" John reached a hand over and took a hold of her wrist. "Easy, baby." Steering with one hand and keeping a firm hold of her wrist, John pulled over into a free spot near the coffee shop and waited until her breathing steady before releasing her hand. "Shhh... It's okay to be upset, Maria, but don't break your hand in the process." Taking her hand in both of his and carefully massaging the heel of her hand, he lowered his voice and made sure she was paying attention. "I know this case is bothering you - it's bothering all of us - and if you want to take your anger on the dashboard, be my guest. But first, promise me that you'll go home tonight, I don't care which apartment, and get some sleep. I know you've been bunking out in the crib and your nursing that migraine, but you need some real sleep tonight."

"So, I'm suppose to go and lay down in the crib when we get back and then go to which ever apartment I choose to get a full night's sleep? I swear to God-"

"Don't get smart with me, Maria Frank," John's warning tone made her withdraw a little from him. "I'm serious about this. You have not slept in three days, you have a migraine, all you have drank is coffee, you haven't eaten and you're getting snippy with me." Maria looked away from him and bit down on her bottom lip, fighting her emotions that had been wanting to get out since day one. "Just let it out, Maria. Cry if you want to cry," his voice broke slightly, watching her fighting what she wanted to release.

Inhaling a ragid sigh and letting it out to steady herself, Maria turned to look at him and slowly said, "Let's just go in, grab something to eat, sit and talk about anything else besides this." John's serious expression didn't change. "'Kay?"

"You're going to eat something?"

"Yes and it'll be more then a bagel," She held up her index finger and pulled his transitions down his nose, getting a good look of his eyes. "Feel better?"

"Much," His facial muscles relaxed and he smiled at her, telling himself once they were no longer in the public's eye to give her a kiss of reassurance. Taking a seat farthest from the door, John ordered himself a coffee and Brisket sandwich while Maria ordered that Chocolate Egg Cream she wanted badly and a fish sandwich with fries. "It's been a while since you've had a fish sandwich, hasn't it?"

"Yeah... it hard to find places that make great ones that please me," She inspected the glass placed before her and took a small sip. "And it's hard to find a place that makes this good of a drink."

"I have an idea for this weekend," John lowered his voice and leaned forward. "You and me on an emergency date."

"An 'emergency date'?" Maria's dark eyebrows shot up into her bangs. "How come? Normally you don't take me out on one unless it's for something special or you want to spend time with me outside of the office."

"We just need to spend some time together and I think a nice dinner and expensive wine might just help us." He resisted holding her hand and, instead, moved his foot to nudge her foot carefully. "What do you think?"

"What kind of place?"

"It's not located in the city, so we can be as close as possible," His voice was barely a whisper and a sly smile tugged at his lips. "C'mon, what do you think?" Going quiet once the server returned with their food, John gave her his best pleading look that always broke her down. "Please?"

Flattening her palms on the table top and leaning back in her seat, Maria nudged his foot back and said gently, "'Kay, sure. I'd love to go on this emergency date with you, John. This weekend?"

"Yep, I've planned it all out, but I haven't made reservations yet and I'm not going to until Friday afternoon." He took a bite of his sandwich and watched Maria rearrange her lettuce before biting into her's. "Once I'm certain we have Saturday off, I'll get it all set up."

"Cool, sounds like something I can look forward to," Maria gently pushed back at his foot, hoping he got her unsaid notion of 'I love you more. Got it?' Leaning forward and lowering her voice even more, she carefully spoke to him to get a few things clear. "I'm sorry for how I had been acting with this case and I certainly didn't mean to take my tone and anger on you or the car. It was really immature of me to do that to you and for me to do it in front of you-"

"It's all right, Maria," He looked around and seeing that no one was looking in their direction, his hand skimmed over her's. "What can I do to make you relax?"

"Besides the obvious?"

"Yes."

Sighing and placing what was left of one part of her sandwich, she pulled out her pen and wrote something down on her napkin. Sliding it to him and her eyes watched him open the napkin, holding it so no one else would see.

All right. Fine. Tonight, before I crash in bed, you are more then welcome to rub the tension from my shoulders, back... what ever you want to rub to get it out of me so I can get some sleep tonight. You can decide for that to happen before or after the obvious.

Folding it and sticking it in his pocket, John nodded and gave her a small wink. "Okay, that I can do." He motioned for two carry out boxes and carry out cups for their drinks.

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After following up on their deal and crashing in the crib for an hour, Maria snuggled deeply into the blanket John loaned her. Deeply inhaling the familiar smell that she loved too much and allowing her mind to shut off for a small moment, Maria drifted into dreamless sleep.

"Where's Maria hiddin' now?" Fin asked as his partner, watching him slip into his chair. "Please, tell me she's gettin' some shut eye..."

"And I finally got her to eat something, too."

"How long is she going to be out?"

"Her mind is an alarm clock that I am not even able to shut off... she'll be up in exactly an hour." He tapped his watch to make his point. "If I could find the off switch on her internal alarm clock, I would so she can sleep for the rest of the day and night. If I could shut it off, I'd carry her to the car and drive her to my place, which is closer, so she doesn't have to get up."

"Well, when you two had left, I did some more digging on the step father of the victim."

"And?"

"He's got a record as long as your bony self - times two, Munch." He handed him the record file and John's dark eyes scanned over the amount of assaults, rapes, murders the man had committed. "How did the wife...?" John shook his head and placed the file back on Fin's desk. "I can't understand some women. Let me guess - Dean Kurn isn't his real name."

"Nope, it's Phil Dunker. He's been in and out of prison and was allowed free on 'good behavior'." Fin rolled his eyes and closed the file. "He's as sleazy as they can get."

"That's just sick."

Both men turned around and saw Maria standing there, pulling her hair back into a short ponytail. "In and out of prison because of 'good behavior'? What? He sleeping with the female guards and bribes the male guards?"

"What are you doing up?" John glanced at his watch and let out a frustrated sigh. "You were asleep for half an hour!"

Maria shrugged and picked up the file. "Something told me that something was up. So.... here I am." Her eyes locked onto John's, the stern expression on his face didn't make her back down. "Oh, well... I'm clocking out in fifteen and heading home. I'm tired of doing over time and I have the plan settled for the stake out on his place." Turning and seeing Cragen standing there, motioning her to come into his office. "And Daddy's not looking happy."

"So, your plan is set, correct?" Cragen asked, closing his door once she sat down.

"Yes and it's going under way tomorrow night." Maria watched him sit in his chair, watching her carefully. "Unless you suggest something different."

"You're the primary, Frank. Like I said, what ever the plan is, you set it up." He folded his hands together and they stared at each other as if trying to read each other's minds. "Go home, Maria. Have John take you home, have dinner and come in tomorrow bright and early for your shift."

"I was going to do that anyway, sir," She punctuated her sentence with a sigh, her arms crossing. "I was going to clock out within ten minutes anyway."

"Good, now get going."

To be continued...