A short, quick update, as I've spent most of the week traveling. Hopefully the next updates will come faster. I appreciate any and all feedback, reviews, and comments. Thanks!

Olivia and Elliot found themselves once again inside Jessica Flanagan's hospital room. Megan perched next to one side of the hospital bed, while Elliot and Olivia stood on the other side.

"Ms. Flanagan, do you recall anything about last night?" Olivia asked gently.

Jessica spoke, her words slightly slurred due to a cut that ran down her lip. "I got in around 9:00," she said, her unbruised eye gazing up at the detective. She shifted uncomfortably in the bed, attempting to sit up. She winced in pain at the movement and breathed in a jagged breath before continuing. "I had dinner with a colleague."

Olivia nodded, giving the blond time to catch her breath before asking her next question. "What colleague?"

"A friend from another non-profit, Randi Hayward. We often overlap on issues."

Olivia glanced up at Elliot, who was taking notes in a small notepad. "Can you walk us through what happened when you got home?" Olivia asked.

Jessica swallowed. "I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary," she said, slightly shaking her head back and forth. "I came in, set my things down in the office, and went to shower. It had been raining all day. I couldn't wait to shower."

Megan, who sat rigidly next to the bed, reached a hand up and gently rubbed her partner's arm as she continued. "I went into the bedroom. And that's when it happened. Someone grabbed me from behind and began choking me. It felt like he was trying to rip my head off." Her hand went unconsciously to her neck, where a deep red line roped around it. Jessica's eyed stared straight ahead for a moment, blankly lost in the moment.

"Did you lose consciousness at any point?" Olivia asked softly.

Jessica nodded. "I must have," she said. "I tried fighting him, but he just… overpowered me. I woke up on the bed, and he was leering over at me."

"Did he say anything to you?"

Jessica shook her head, her eyes narrowing at the memory. "Not a thing. Not one word. The whole time, not one word."

Megan stood, brushing a loose strand of hair off of Jessica's forehead. Her eyes met Olivia's briefly, and the detective felt a stab of pain for the woman. She sighed, waiting a moment before continuing her questioning. "Do you remember what he was wearing? Anything descriptive?"

Jessica closed her eyes momentarily. "All black. Everything was black. His pants had a lot of pockets, with zippers." she said. Her lip curled into a slight sneer. "I'm sure that's not helpful," she sighed.

Olivia placed a hand on Jessica's shoulder. "Jessica, anything you tell us is helpful. You went through a tragic ordeal, and you're doing fine."

Jessica shrugged her shoulders, whispering, almost as if to herself. "I just wish I could remember more. Or would have fought him more." She shook her head. "Something."

Megan stood and leaned nearer to Jessica, placing her head directly in front of her partner's. "Jessica," she said, firmly, "honey, you're doing great. Okay? You're safe, and you're only helping put this guy behind bars." She glanced up at Olivia as she straightened, placing her arms across her chest. "What else can we help you with, detectives?"

Olivia noticed the impatience, she saw it in Megan's eyes, attempting to mask her fear. Olivia once again felt a pang of sympathy for the woman, who surely was only trying to protect her partner as much as she could.

Elliot spoke up. "Jessica, do you recall anyone giving you a hard time at work over the past few weeks? Anything occur out of the ordinary?"

Jessica was silent for a moment as she thought. "I did have an encounter with a man at a gay marriage rally recently," she said, her voice trailing off as she recalled the altercation.

This piqued Elliot's attention. "Oh?" he prompted her.

Jessica nodded, looking up at Megan. "Remember?" she asked her partner. "That guy at the HRW rally who confronted me after my speech?"

Megan narrowed her eyes in concentration, looking up at Olivia as the memory flashed through her mind. "Yes," she said. "I was there that day. He was a middle-aged guy, pretty worked up about the marriage law. He waited until we had moved away from the stage, but then reeled on Jessica."

"Did he get violent?" Elliot asked.

Jessica shook her head, continuing Megan's line of conversation. "No, the crowd pretty much ran him off, even before security wound their way through the throng of people. He was white, green eyes." She thought for a moment. "Really, bright green eyes," she said, her voice lost in the memory. "Angry green eyes."

Olivia looked at Jessica, then Megan. "Did either of you ever see him again?" she asked.

Both women shook their heads. "Not that I noticed," Jessica responded.

Olivia and Elliot walked back toward the precinct, Elliot stripping off his jacket as they walked down the hallway. "It's never cool enough in here," he complained, wiping the back of his neck with his free hand.

"It's never cool enough anywhere in Manhattan during July," Olivia quipped.

As the two walked into the precinct room, Olivia felt a flutter in her stomach as she noticed Alex perched on Munch's desk, Cragen leaning over her.

"I say we pursue it," Munch finished, looking up as the two detectives walked over. "Benson, Stabler," he said, motioning them closer. "Come join the party."

Alex looked over her shoulder and gave Olivia and Elliot a quick smile, her eyes lingering on Olivia's for a second longer. Olivia smiled back at her, the fluttering in her stomach not quite disappearing.

"Alex," Elliot said, patting her on the shoulder. "Checking up on us?"

Alex pursed her lips into a slight grin. "That's exactly what I'm doing." She looked up at Cragen. "I wanted to see where you were on the Flanagan case."

Elliot sighed. "Not a lot further than where we were this morning, or last night, or hell, even two nights ago." He looked at Cragen apologetically. "We didn't learn much from Flanagan."

Olivia broke in. "She saw next to nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Munch cut in. "Well, her neighbor saw something out of the ordinary."

Olivia and Elliot looked over at him. "What?" Olivia asked.

"She was having a midnight smoke the night before last, leaning out of her apartment window, which looked down on the fire escape outside of Flanagan's apartment. Said she saw a man on the fire escape."

Alex furrowed her brow. "Wait, she saw him the night before last? The night before the rape?"

Munch nodded. "Sure did. She said she assumed the guy was a guest of the woman in apartment 3C. Apparently she has quite a few midnight marauders. Our smoker didn't think anything of it. Closed her window, went back inside."

Cragen crossed his arms over his chest, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. "You check this with the tenant in 3C?"

Munch curled one side of his lip. "What kind of detective would I be if I didn't?"

Elliot rolled his eyes, glancing quickly at Olivia, who put a hand on her hip.

Munch continued. "Woman didn't have any visitors the night before. She wasn't even home. She was spending the night with her boyfriend in Brooklyn."

Olivia exhaled. "So, what, this guy was watching Flanagan?"

Elliot shook his head. "What if he tampered with the window lock?"

Cragen nodded, pointing a finger at Elliot. "Let's corroborate this with Flanagan." He glanced at Olivia. "You want to check with her, see if she remembers having her windows open the night before last?"

Olivia nodded. "Sure. I'll give Megan a call." She slipped away from the group and sat behind her desk, picking Megan's number out of her coat pocket.

Cragen turned his attention back to Munch. "This tenant, did she get an ID on the guy?"

Munch shrugged. "Not a great one. He was wearing a baseball cap, t-shirt, dark, baggy pants. White male."

Cragen sighed. Alex looked from Munch to Elliot to Cragen. "Well," she said. "Sounds like you guys have got some work to do before I'm needed around here." She slipped off of Munch's desk and clapped Elliot on the shoulder blade. "Good luck," she said, walking towards the exit.

As she passed Olivia's desk, she tapped her fingers lightly on the green surface, signaling a goodbye. Olivia nodded, giving a slight wave before speaking again into the cell phone. "Thanks, Megan, I appreciate your continued cooperation. It makes all the difference. Call me as soon as you can." She hung up her phone and called over to her partner. "Jessica's sleeping. Megan will ask her as soon as she wakes up."

Elliot nodded and turned back to Munch and Cragen. Olivia glanced at them, then the exit door that Alex had passed through a moment earlier. She lurched out of her chair and walked briskly out of the precinct room. Elliot turned toward her desk. "Hey Liv – " he cut himself off as he noticed her empty chair, catching the back of her sweater as she darted out of the room. He turned back toward Cragen. "Girl talk," he said with a shrug.

Olivia saw Alex ahead, waiting for an elevator and twisting the cap off of a newly purchased bottle of water. "Alex," she called, catching up to her as the elevator door opened. Alex looked up at the detective as several people filed out of the elevator and those waiting filed inside. A large woman in a pale pink jacket and a matching skirt looked expectantly at Alex as she held the elevator door open. "You coming?" she asked gruffly.

Alex shook her head, and the elevator doors behind her as she turned to face Olivia. "You find something out from Flanagan?" she asked, expectantly.

Olivia looked confused for a moment. "No, no," she said. She paused, not exactly sure why she had followed Alex to the elevator. "Thanks for the salad," she said lamely.

Alex smiled, taking a sip of her water. "Of course," she replied, her eyes shining. The elevator dinged behind her and the doors opened once again. She moved aside as people once again filed out, not sure why she wasn't moving to get on the elevator. She stayed in place as the doors dinged shut.

"You know, Olivia – "

"Alex, I don't – "

The two women laughed somewhat awkwardly as they both cut off each other's thoughts. Olivia nodded toward Alex, encouraging her to continue.

Alex's thumb brushed nervously over the cap of her water bottle. "I am delighted to have dinner with you this weekend," she said, her eyes flashing only briefly to Olivia's. "I don't, however…" she trailed off, her eyes glancing off toward her left as she searched for words. "I don't," she repeated, "know exactly how we're supposed to do this… kind of thing." Her eyes finally met Olivia's and she was relieved to see warmth in the brown eyes.

Olivia nodded, flashing the attorney with a slightly bashful smile. "Right," she agreed, placing her hands in her pockets. She looked down at the floor for a moment before glancing back up at Alex's questioning face. "Why don't we," she said, gesturing coolly, "just take it slow?"

Alex smirked, darting an embarrassed glance towards the other end of the hallway. "I think we've surpassed that point, Olivia," she said, mirth flashing through her eyes.

Olivia met her gaze with a devious look of her own. "Right," she said. She pulled her hands out of her pockets and ran one hand quickly through her hair. "What I mean is," she began, rubbing her hand across the back of her neck, "is that we don't have to make this awkward."

Alex guffawed, for the first time allowing herself the opportunity to laugh at the two of them. "Oh, Olivia," she said, "I think we've surpassed that, too."

Olivia found herself smiling at the comment, before letting out a small laugh. "Right," she said. "In that case, Alex, I am looking forward to dinner this weekend." She paused. "I'm in the mood for sushi, although that could change before Saturday rolls around."

"Sushi would be lovely," Alex said. "You choose the cuisine, I choose the place." She thought for a moment, tapping her water bottle softly against the palm of one hand. "Kiko," she said. "Chelsea."

Olivia nodded. "I know it," she said. "Good choice."

The elevator dinged for the third time, the doors opening once again. Alex glanced behind her as the space emptied out, then smiled back at Olivia. "I'm going to take this one," she said, pointing behind her.

Olivia nodded. "Third time's a charm," she said, backing down the hallway.

"So I've heard," Alex responded, stepping onto the elevator and giving one last smile as the elevator doors closed. Olivia turned, heading back toward the precinct, the butterflies in her stomach only just beginning to subside.