Another Reason

by Last.one.02

This story follows Elliot's and Olivia's life together from their first kiss to becoming a family. Even they will have some troubles along the way. I'll rely on the storylines, but I do like playing with them a little. Starts with season six after Elliot's separation. E/O all the way, but other characters are also involved.

25. 8,13 Loophole

AN: I know I kept you waiting, but school came between. I'm positive this is the first week, since April, when I have had more free time than just for sleeping. I had to finish my master's thesis and then defend it in front of many people, which freaked me out. But all is well, I am now proud to say Master of Science, or more likely will be on less than 10 days, when I will get my paper. Hard work payed off and now I am done with this one too. If the chapter seems a little weird then it's because it has been in the works for months - I used writing as a way to clear my head, so I've been doing it for quite some time and it is longer than usual too... Maybe that excuses the extremely long wait?

Anyway for the next month I'm planning on resting and enjoying soccer, but not writing, therefore the next chapter will probably take quite some time as well. But enjoy this one and let me know.

L.

***SVU***

8.13 Loophole

It was almost 9 in the morning, when Olivia and Elliot rushed through the doors into the bullpen. Both took their seats and got to work as fast as they could without saying a word.

"You are late," Munch commented, while Fin looked at the scene with a grin.

"Slept in," Elliot offered an explanation with a grunt.

"Yeah, yeah. We're all adults here, so there's no need to use codes," Fin teased.

"We're not," Olivia defended.

"Is the Cap in?" Elliot asked.

Munch nod, "He was here, when I got here a couple of hours ago," he said and pointed at the office, where Cragen was sitting behind partially closed blinds.

"He seemed extra angry in the morning after his meeting at the 1-PP," Fin explained.

"And he noticed that you were absent," Munch added.

Olivia dropped her head on the table and muttered: "We're doomed."

Before anyone could say more, Cragen opened his office door loudly and marched over to his detectives. Everybody looked at the Captain and waited for his instructions.

"Unis are bringing over a suspect, he's high on PCP and apparently he killed his girlfriend while on the rage," Cragen said.

"Me and Liv got it," Elliot said quickly.

"No, you don't," Cragen said firmly.

Everybody looked up at their CO with questions.

"Cap, we're sorry about being late, the alarm didn't ring for whatever reason and we slept in," Elliot explained quickly.

"It won't happen again," Olivia added.

"Oh, you being late is another issue and I will deal with it later, but it's not why I don't want you taking him," Cragen said simply.

"It's not?" Olivia asked with surprise.

Cragen shook his head, "No. Cupid is a full grown man and currently high on PCP, it takes more than you two to control him," Cragen explained.

"Oh," Olivia said, suddenly aware that the reason wasn't them being late, she was the reason.

"Elliot take Fin and relieve the unis," Cragen ordered.

"Got it," Fin replied.

"But don't think getting in late is acceptable, you do that again and you won't be getting off that easily. In fact I haven't decided what to do with the two of you yet," Cragen said to Olivia and Elliot before descending back to his office.

Olivia placed her hands on the table by elbows and dropped her head on her palm, then stared at the computer screen with blank expression. She had already been in trouble enough times and she was not doing that again.

Elliot ran his hand smoothly over her hand and back as he passed her with Fin, leaving Munch and Olivia alone in the squad room.

"Don't worry, you're the favorite, so you can get away with almost anything," Munch teased.

"Shut up," Olivia said, though she was not mad at Munch.

Munch took a folder from his desk and handed it to Olivia. She looked up in question, then opened it and saw the forensic report on the case she and Elliot were investigating.

"Your perp left sperm behind that combined with the hairs and the fact that lab got a DNA match should cheer you up. O'Halloran came by earlier and dropped it off," Munch explained.

"Thanks," Olivia said with a small smile, "As soon as Elliot gets Cupid up, we'll be on our way and arrest this son of a bitch."

"That's my girl," Munch said with satisfaction and strolled back to his desk.

The silence fell over the room, but it was disrupted, when screams started coming.

"It's our Cupid probably, go get Captain and I'll go see if I can assist them," Munch ordered.

Olivia did as she was told and got to the hallway with Cragen and some uniforms, who had come to see what's happening.

When they arrived, Cupid had broken off from the detectives and managed to knock out a kid on his way up. She saw as Cupid threw a police officer, who tried to control him, towards Elliot and Fin. Elliot had his back toward the action, but when he looked up again, he saw Cupid take a bench and threw it towards Olivia, who was on the other side of the hallway with Cragen and 2 uniformed officers. Luckily they all backed away and the bench fell onto ground.

"I'm coming for you Barbie," Cupid shouted.

Elliot saw the fire extinguisher and took it from the wall. He ran towards Cupid and hit him in the head. The bigger man turned around to face Elliot, everybody gasped to see what's going to happen next.

"How dare you hit the erotic God of love," Cupid said as he grabbed Elliot and threw him into the window. The glass shattered at the impact and Elliot stayed down on the window sill.

It was Fin, who came towards Cupid next, but he grabbed a chair and waved it towards Fin, while yelling: "No mortal can keep us away!"

"I came to get her back," Cupid continued as he turned around and headed towards Cragen. He broke another window with the chair, but didn't put it down. Instead he turned to Cragen and Olivia, who appeared at that moment with electric stun gun and stood in front of her CO.

"Barbie's gone. Put the chair down," Olivia commanded while aiming at him.

"Don't make me hurt you, lady," Cupid said.

"Last chance," Olivia warned.

"You're just jealous of her beauty," Cupid said and flung the chair on his side, ready to throw it at Olivia. Just as he had the chair over his head, Olivia released the stun gun and hit Cupid in the abdomen. The big man fell to his knees, grunting in pain and finally let go of the chair.

Olivia released the trigger after Cupid seemed to be down, but the man managed to remove the wire from him and made a move to stand again.

"Barbie, I love you. You're my…" Cupid didn't get to finish his sentence, because Fin had picked up a chair and hit the man on the head, which finally made him fall to the ground unconscious.

"Hit the cuffs on him," Cragen yelled and two uniforms tended to the man, who had managed to make quite some damage to their hallway.

Cragen and Olivia headed towards Elliot in fast pace.

"How bad?" Olivia asked as she reached him.

"Deep cut in his arm," Cragen made out.

As Elliot tried to make a move to get up, Olivia placed her hand firmly on his thigh to stop him from moving.

"Tell EMS we got an officer down!" She yelled to the officers.

"I'm fine, seriously," Elliot protested.

Olivia and Cragen exchanged a look, silently disagreeing with Elliot. Cragen pulled his jacket sleeve down to cover his fingers and cleaned the glass enough so Elliot could move without cutting himself further.

Olivia extended her hand to him and along with Cragen helped him get away from the pieces of glass and sit him down on the chair Cupid hadn't thrown into pieces.

He looked around him and noticed two officers dragging Cupid away, while Munch tended to the boy, who had stepped off the elevator at a wrong time and got hit by Cupid. Pieces of furniture were on the floor along with pieces of glass from 2 broken windows.

"That's a hell of a morning," Elliot commented.

"You don't say," Cragen replied with sarcasm.

"Captain!" Fin shouted and motioned Cragen to come to him, leaving Olivia and Elliot alone.

Olivia leaned over Elliot and examined his injuries, she ran her finger gently over his forehead, where glass cut through his skin and planted a kiss at the side of the cut.

"And I feel better already," Elliot commented.

"Right," Olivia said, ignoring his comment all along.

She moved gently his shirt on his right forehand to get a better look at the cut there. She avoided touching it, but did her best to examine his cut.

"It looks pretty bad," she said.

"Then it's good that my hand is pretty numb," Elliot said.

"It's not good, El," Olivia said seriously and stood up straight.

Elliot moved his good hand around Olivia and settled on the small of her back, drawing her closer to him.

"I'll be fine, Liv. Don't worry, I've been shot, I've been stabbed and I'm still here. You're not getting rid of me that easily," Elliot tried and offered her a smile.

"I know," Olivia replied.

She ran her hand through his short hair and looked around how officers were cleaning up the mess Cupid made in his rage.

"He took destroying the precinct pretty seriously," Elliot commented.

"That he did, but luckily the damage could be fixed quite easily – replace the chairs and windows and clean up the mess," Olivia replied.

"That's true," Elliot agreed.

"It's fixing you, that's going to take more time," Olivia commented.

Elliot started to protest, but Olivia moved her free hand to his lips to stop him.

"Don't. Humor me and just agree with me on this one," she deadpanned.

Elliot looked up at her with the best puppy eyes he could manage and tilted his head slightly. Olivia took a few seconds to figure out, what he wants. Once she realized, she laughed at her silliness and leaned down to kiss him quickly.

"Liv, the EMTs are here," Cragen shouted from the other side of the hallway.

Olivia leaned back and disentangled herself from Elliot and settled on standing beside him, her hand on his shoulder. The EMT workers examined Elliot and decided that he needed to be brought in. With some help from Olivia, they got Elliot on a gurney and secured him as they started to move. Olivia was right beside him and he grabbed hold of her hand.

"Are you riding along detective?" the female EMT asked.

Olivia had an inner debate, but decided that she needed to be with Elliot and so she nod. "Yes, I'm coming," she voiced her decision.

"Okay. Let's move," the male EMT said.

The three of them started pushing the gurney, they passed Cragen as they headed towards the elevators.

"Where are you taking him?" Cragen asked.

"They're all going to Bellevue," the female EMT replied.

"I'm gonna ride along," Olivia said quickly and

"I want a report the moment you know anything," Cragen requested.

"Sure," Olivia replied and entered the elevator.

Cragen watched as Olivia and Elliot disappeared in the elevator and noticed an envelope on the ground. Fin explained that a kid that Cupid knocked down was carrying that. They noticed half naked pictures of a kid inside

"Go to Bellevue, see what the kid can tell us about the pictures," Cragen ordered.

With that took the same elevator Olivia and Elliot had taken before.

Captain looked around as some unis finished cleaning the mess and construction workers measuring the size of broken windows. He left for his office to notify 1-PP, because the police commissioner will probably be pissed if he hears it from somewhere else.

***SVU***

Elliot got settled in an empty room after he was admitted. Olivia followed him and took a seat on empty bed.

"You can remove your shirt, the doctor will be with you in a minute," nurse instructed and left the room.

Olivia wore a smirk on her face and rolled her eyes.

"What's on your mind?" Elliot asked as he started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Nothing," Olivia replied.

Elliot winced slightly at the movement of his hands. Olivia stood from the free bed and took a seat at his side. She covered his hands with hers and took over unbuttoning his shirt. He removed his hands from the buttons, instead placed his left hand on her thigh subconsciously.

"Oh, I knew you liked undressing me, but this is a little inappropriate, detective," Elliot commented.

"Doctor's orders," Olivia explained.

"Hmm, you can't use that explanation every time you feel like unbuttoning my shirt, like last night and the night…" Elliot started, but Olivia stopped him by covering his lips with hers.

"We're on the clock, so keep your thoughts out of the bedroom," Olivia said after pulling apart.

Elliot raised his eyebrows, but he didn't say anything, instead let Olivia take off his shirt and ease his tie over his head.

She took the shirt and tie, then threw them on the vacant bed, where she was sitting before. Her eyes roamed over his bare muscular upper body and she bit her lower lip.

"See something you like, Benson?" he asked politely.

"That is inappropriate, Stabler," she replied, "But the answer is yes." She smirked, her hand playing with her bangs absentmindedly.

"I see something I adore too," Elliot said quietly.

Olivia closed her eyes and leaned onto him, her head falling between his shoulder and collarbone while he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair.

"I'm so glad you decided to take me back," he whispered.

"Mmm, me too," Olivia agreed.

They heard a throat being cleaned at the doorway, which caused Olivia and Elliot to break the contact and both sat up straight.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to take a look at detective Stabler," the male doctor said from the doorway.

"Of course," Olivia replied and resumed her previous seat on the vacant bed. She crossed her legs and placed her hands on her legs as she watched the doctor work.

He cleaned the cut on Elliot's forehead and on tight upper hand, then he examined both cuts and decided that only the one on his hands needs treatment.

"Seems like you are incredibly lucky and the glass missed the nerves, so I'll just need to stitch this up. Do you have any other complaints like pain or numbness in other parts of your hand?" the doctor asked.

"It's somewhat numb," Elliot replied.

"It is to be expected. You should take it easy until you gain full feeling in your hand," the doctor explained.

Elliot nod.

"I mean it detective," the doctor stressed, NYPD police officers were famous for ignoring doctor's orders and quite often returned with worse injury than before.

"He will," Olivia interrupted and sent Elliot a glare.

Elliot nod again, but this time he made eye contact with the doctor.

"Okay, I'm gonna numb the area and then I'll stich you up," the doctor said and looked for the needle in the drawer, he found it and took the right amount of medicine to give Elliot.

"You'll feel a slight pinch, and then in a few seconds your arm will be numb," he explained.

"It's already numb," Elliot replied and made a face, when the doctor injected him. Olivia looked with pained expression, her worry quite obvious in her features.

"Hey Captain," Elliot greeted, when he noticed Cragen walk into the room – thank God the doctor had come first and interrupted his moment with Olivia.

"How are you feeling?" Cragen asked, he stopped at the side of the bed, so he was standing beside Olivia.

"Like a million bucks," Elliot replied.

"That's what happens, when you get hit by a bus," Olivia commented and rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of which, where's the lover boy?" Elliot asked.

"He's in the prison ward in steel restraints," Cragen informed him, then turned to the doctor, "Is he gonna be okay?"

"The glass came close to severing his radial nerve. He's lucky," the doctor explained.

"I'll be ready for work," Elliot brushed it off.

Olivia opened her mouth to protest, but the doctor beat her.

"Not until you regain full feeling in your arm and hands," he said.

"Puts you on the DL," Cragen replied heavily.

"You're gonna put me on the DL with our caseload?" Elliot asked, hoping his CO would change his mind.

"Elliot, I'd rather lose you for a few weeks than go to your retirement party," Cragen reasoned and looked at Olivia for approval. She looked up and showed no signs of protest against Cragen's argument, instead gave her silent approval with a barely there grin from the thought of Elliot staying at home and probably going crazy there.

Olivia turned her eyes to Elliot, who gave her hand and the doctor a dirty look, then gave up the fight he was not going to win and changed the topic: "How's that kid Taylor doing?" he asked, vaguely remembering Olivia giving him brief summary of what went down exactly before he was admitted.

"Fin's talking to him now," Olivia said and stood up.

"I'm gonna go see how Fin's doing as well as two other officers loverboy took down," Cragen decided.

"Doc, when can I leave?" Elliot asked quickly.

"As soon as I am done with you. But you have to take easy for the next few days. I'm just gonna go ahead and order you home for the next two weeks, your arm should heal by then," doctor instructed one more time.

Elliot nod to confirm he understood the orders.

"Olivia, wait for your partner and take him home or you'd rather go help Fin and I'll get a patrol to pick him up?" Cragen asked and turned to Olivia.

"I'll take him," Olivia replied fast, "But I'm also gonna go see how Fin's doing," she added.

Cragen nod in approval.

"Take care of yourself," Cragen said to Elliot and left the room.

Olivia looked after Cragen, once he was out of sight, Olivia moved closer to Elliot. She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"I'll go see Fin now, call me if I'm not back before you're ready," she instructed.

"Okay," Elliot replied.

Olivia left him alone and headed towards the room, where Fin was with Taylor. Before she could reach the door, she saw Fin walking towards her in the hallway.

"How's Stabler?" Fin asked immediately.

"Cut on his hand, he'll be on DL, but otherwise he'll be fine," Olivia replied, "How's the kid?" she asked.

"Claims someone on the street gave him 50 bucks to drop off the envelope. I'll head to the lab to search for fingerprints, they should already have the envelope," Fin explained.

"Let's hope for the best. Besides we are a detective down on this one," Olivia replied.

"You'll wait here for Elliot or are you heading back?" Fin asked.

"Cragen ordered me to take him home first," Olivia explained.

Fin fished inside his pockets for the keys and handed them to Olivia.

"You came with the ambulance, so you don't have your squad car. I'll look for Cragen and catch a ride back with him," Fin explained.

Olivia laughed, "I didn't even think about it. Thanks," she said.

Fin nod.

They walked back towards Elliot's room, where Fin came in to assess the situation himself, then went to look for Cragen. Olivia sat on the bed she had been sitting before once again and waited for the doctor to finish treating Elliot. It didn't take long.

Olivia helped him put the broken and bloody shirt back on, because he didn't have a spare and then they left the hospital.

"Can you believe that he put me on DL?" Elliot whined.

"Yes, it was the only right call," Olivia replied, "Besides think of it as extra vacation."

He held the hospital door open for her as they left the building, once outside he caught her hand in his.

"I wish Cragen had given you a day off too," Elliot said softly.

"Our caseload is too heavy for that," Olivia explained.

"I know, but a guy could dream," Elliot replied, she leaned against him quietly saying that she wanted it too.

Olivia caught sight of the car and changed the direction towards it. She unlocked the doors, when they reached it and let go of his hand. Both detectives got into the car and Olivia drove off. She took automatically direction towards her apartment, but then she remembered, that they weren't living together, even though his things had somehow found their way back to her place.

She stopped at the red light.

"Where do you want to go?" she asked.

"Will you be coming home tonight?" he asked and turned his head towards her.

"Yes, I'll try to leave at a decent hour, you are injured after all," Olivia answered and looked over him with concern.

"Then take me to your place, that okay?" he asked for her approval.

"Of course," she replied and started the car again as the light had changed into green.

"So there are some perks of being wounded," Elliot joked.

Olivia rolled her eyes at him, "Blame the evolution for our instincts," she replied. Even though she didn't say it our loud, both of them heard motherly instincts in the sentence. It was one topic they chose to avoid at all costs, because they didn't want to risk possible negative outcome of the conversation, so instead they chose to ignore it altogether.

"Don't worry, I like them," he said suggestively and caressed her thigh gently, without any other intention other than show some affection.

They reached her apartment building and Olivia parked the car in her usual spot. Both of them got out the car and walked upstairs hand in hand.

Once in the apartment, Olivia dropped her keys on the counter, but before she could do or say anything else, Elliot captured her lips with his and kissed passionately. He slipped his tongue past her lips and used his good hand to draw her body tight against his. She gave in and let him invade her senses.

"I'm gonna be so bored," he said, when they pulled apart.

Olivia laughed and kissed him again.

Even after their lips had parted, they stayed together in the middle of the hallway.

"I have to go," she whispered, but made no move to step away from his embrace, instead placed her head on his shoulder.

"I don't want you to go either," he replied and kissed the side of her head.

Reluctantly Olivia moved away from him and refused to go back into his arms.

"Honey, there's one more thing before you leave," he said with a smile.

Olivia raised her eyebrows and waited for him to elaborate.

"I'm gonna need some help getting this shirt off," he said sheepishly.

Olivia shook her head and laughed. She stepped back towards him and started undoing the buttons on his ripped shirt. She eased his right hand out of the sleeve and threw the shirt into trash.

"You want a t-shirt?" She asked.

Elliot nod.

Olivia disappeared into the bedroom and returned with the first shirt she found from the closet. It was a dark green short sleeved shirt. She helped him get it on, then looked over at him, satisfied with the outcome. Her eyes stopped at his hand, where the glass cut into skin.

"Take it easy, while you're alone," she instructed.

"Well, I'm gonna be watching TV or something, so don't worry," he smiled.

Olivia was satisfied with the answer and grabbed her keys, ready to leave.

"You forgot something," he stopped her.

"What?" Olivia asked – she was certain that she had all she needed.

"Goodbye," Elliot said sheepishly.

Olivia smiled and walked back to him, tilted her head upwards and gave him a kiss on the lips, but made sure he couldn't deepen the kiss, because that would leave them wanting more and she really needed to get back to precinct.

"I'll see you tonight," she said on the doorway and closed the door before Elliot could stop her again.

***SVU***

As the day progressed, they found one solid lead, but then it was already past regular work hours and Cragen decided to call it a day and send his detectives home around 7 pm, it had been a long and eventful day.

Olivia dropped by a nearest take out place, which was Chinese and ordered dinner for herself and Elliot, going by their regular order.

When she got home the lights were off, but the TV was playing. Olivia dropped the bag with food on the kitchen counter and removed her jacket along with her coat. As she suspected Elliot was napping in front of the TV, so she decided to let him be for now. She entered the bedroom and placed her gun, badge and keys in the bedroom drawer, then changed into sweats and t-shirt. She pulled her hair from the band and let her long hair fall free on her back.

Then she returned to the living room and walked over to Elliot. He was sleeping in sitting position with his feet popped up on the coffee table. He was snoring quietly. Olivia walked over to him and debated on how to wake him, finally settled on how she'd want him to proceed.

She sat down on the edge of the armrest and leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

As she pulled away, he groaned and opened his eyes.

"Good morning," he said groggily.

"Good evening, sleeping beauty," she replied and turned on the lights.

Elliot straightened himself, he dropped his legs on the floor and ran his palm over his face. He blinked to adjust his eyes to the bright light.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Almost 8," Olivia replied.

Elliot groaned again.

"I must have fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the series," he made a conclusion.

"What were you watching?" she asked.

"I don't know, some comedy," he said after doing his best to remember if he caught the name of the series he was watching.

"Well, you haven't been sleeping much lately," she gave an excuse. Their case load was heavy and Elliot had tried to make some time for his kids as well as for Olivia, so he spent more time working and less sleeping. He had also been using his apartment quite often, so Olivia was somewhat surprised, when he wanted to come to her place.

"Come here," he requested and held his arms wide.

Olivia moved herself into his open arms and straddled him, Elliot locked his hands on her back and pushed her body closer to his, then kissed her. Olivia held his head in her hands

"I missed you during the day," he said.

"You were asleep," Olivia pointed out.

"Doesn't mean, I didn't miss you," he replied.

Olivia straightened out his short hair and kissed his forehead.

"Look at us. We're starting to resemble that corny couple from every romance movie, the ones, who can barely keep their hands away from each other and after being 2 days apart act like the other came back from the war. I just hope this doesn't end anytime soon," Olivia deadpanned.

"Honey, we'll never get old and boring. I promise you right now to love you just the same in 10 years. And I will be missing you whenever we are apart and I don't care if it's days or years," he assured her, "Though I hope I don't have to be apart from you for years," he added.

"Me too," she agreed, "How's your hand?"

"It's numb, but the painkiller they gave me, are also pretty amazing," he replied.

Olivia removed his hands from her back and got up from the couch, to which Elliot protested loudly.

"I brought Chinese, so are you hungry?" Olivia asked.

Elliot merely nod.

Olivia brought the bag with their dinner to the couch, handed him one carton and pair of chopsticks and took the other pair for herself.

"How's the case going?" Elliot asked.

"We have some ideas and one lead, but that's it," Olivia said quickly and focused on eating her noodles.

"You don't want to talk about work?" Elliot asked, even though it was more a statement.

"No, I don't wanna talk about it," she confirmed.

As they ate, Olivia took the remote and changed the channel, she settled on Grey's Anatomy. It was one of the earliest seasons, where Meredith was fighting with Derek.

"I know you are calling him McDreamy, but I don't get it. He is obviously acting like a prick, yet he is the dream man," Elliot voiced his confusion.

"Just look at him, El. You have to admit he looks dreamy," Olivia replied, her voice somewhat teasing.

Elliot made a face at Olivia and dropped his empty carton on the table.

"He has more hair than some, but that doesn't make him McDreamy, or does it?" Elliot asked.

"Am I sensing some jealousy?" Olivia teased. She also placed her carton on the table and bended her leg on the couch so she was facing him instead of TV.

"No, of course not. I just didn't know having some hair is all it takes to woo women," Elliot replied, "I could only wish I'd known that before."

"If you did, then I might be calling you McDreamy," Olivia smirked.

"You're saying I'm not your McDreamy?" Elliot teased.

Olivia leaned towards him, to which he responded by placing his hands on her waist. She kissed him on the lips and pulled away just enough so she could look at him properly.

"Is that a yes?" Elliot asked and raised his eyebrows.

"No," Olivia deadpanned.

"No?" Elliot asked and released her.

"There is just one McDreamy and that is Dr. Derek Shepard," Olivia explained.

"Where does that leave me?" he asked.

Olivia smirked and leaned over again, but Elliot placed his uninjured hand on her shoulder and pushed back.

"I'm injured and you keep insulting me. You don't get to kiss me after that," Elliot declared.

Olivia broke into laughter and moved away from him.

"It's not funny," Elliot pouted.

"No, it's not," Olivia agreed, but she continued laughing, "You'd need to grow some hair before I consider calling you McDreamy."

After she settled down and stopped laughing she moved back to his side and occupied his lap, her legs stretched out on the couch. Elliot protested at the movement, but didn't stop her entirely, also he didn't make a move to welcome her either.

"You are not McDreamy, but you are dreamy. You are my dream and for the moment you have to settle for that," she said softly.

Elliot finally welcomed her and wrapped his good hand around her, while Olivia made herself comfortable, her head fell to his shoulder and she placed her palm on his chest, where his heart was beating steadily under her hand.

They settled on watching TV and the love story of Meredith and Derek unwind in front of them.

"So I don't need to grow those locks?" Elliot asked, when Derek appeared on screen.

"Nah. Short hair fits you better. But then again you are showing some signs of going bald and having longer hair could cover that up," Olivia thought out loud.

"Liv," Elliot protested.

"I'm joking," she said, her lips meeting his chest, "Just stay the way you are. I love you the same, even with your short balding hair," she added.

"I love you too, generally, but I am still hurt by your words. You'd better make it up to me," he requested.

"Mmm, what do you have in mind?" Olivia asked, but she already knew the answer.

Elliot pretended to think really hard about it, "Prove to me how much you love me and do your best to make me forget your insults," Elliot said, "I trust you know exactly how to do that."

Olivia rolled her eyes and started kissing his neck up to his ear while her hand moved downwards over his abdomen. "You, men, are so simple. All we have to do is sleep with you and then everything is okay."

"Yes, it's that easy," Elliot said between moaning.

Olivia stopped her actions abruptly and got up from the couch.

"But you, mister, won't be having sex tonight. At least not with me," Olivia said confidently as she stood in front of him.

"Why?" he whined.

"I'm tired and it's gonna be a long day tomorrow, so I'm going to bed. You can finish admiring another guy's hair and join me later," Olivia announced with a yawn.

Elliot made a face, but decided against fighting her. He nod briefly and then got up to follow her.

They brushed their teeth together, while communicating with their eyes through the window. After than they changed and got under the covers. Olivia took up her usual position on her right side with her back towards him, while Elliot came to contact with her and tried to spoon her from behind, but as soon as he rolled onto his right side, a flash of pain went through him and he groaned loudly while rolling onto his back.

Olivia turned around in concern and studied his expression.

"I got pushed through the window today," Elliot explained as if it was nothing and she didn't know it.

"I know, I was there," Olivia replied.

"Today you can be the small spoon and get a sense what it feels like to be held," Olivia proposed.

Elliot thought about it, then nod. "I know there's no sex, but can we just fool around a little. That would make me feel so much better and not at all injured," he tried.

All Olivia could do was roll herself over and climb hallway on top of him with every intention to "fool around" in the bed.

"Just promise me not to use your right hand and not to overdo it," she requested.

He nod and wrapped his left hand around her as his lips captured hers eagerly.

***SVU***

Olivia and Fin were in the squad room late as Casey requested to get some hard evidence against Seth Milstead, who was arrested the night before. He had pictures of a kid in his underwear, but he was never involved in a sexual act nor was he naked.

"I don't think he has other aliases or anything in his past to make the case," Fin said finally.

"And those pictures are disturbing, but not sexual in their nature," Olivia added and dropped the pen on the desk. She turned her attention to her temporary partner and took a big gulp from the coffee she was harboring on her desk.

"Milstead is guilty of something," Fin was confident.

"Agreed," Olivia replied.

Fin looked over the pictures on his desk, trying to find something he hadn't seen before – anything would be good, but they were playing along the lines.

"Milstead is good. Those photos are almost enough, but the same they're not," Fin said with frustration.

"We need to find something, otherwise we'll get the case thrown out," Olivia said.

"And not to mention making me look bad," Casey said as she entered the bullpen. She dropped her bag by Elliot's desk and leaned on it.

"How was your lawyer tea party?" Fin asked.

"Peachy," Casey deadpanned, "Nothing more satisfying than getting an early win, which will probably end with tomorrow after the Judge gives his ruling. And also I have one pissed Zeirko breathing down my neck, so yeah, everything was peachy."

Cragen entered the squad room as Casey talk and sat down on Munch's empty desk.

"Good to hear someone's doing well," Cragen commented, "Where are we on this?"

The silence was an answer enough.

"Look guys, I know it's late and you want to go home, but I need something. After Judge Bradley calls it a bad arrest, no other Judge will give me the warrant unless you bring me airtight case," Casey reasoned.

"I can assure you, that we are doing the best we can," Cragen said.

Casey looked around and pointed at two empty chairs. "Where are Munch and Elliot? Why only half of the detectives are at work?"

"Stabler got struck by a loverboy and he's on house rest, but where is John?" Cragen asked.

"Old man was tired, so he went home," Fin replied, "But he was here earlier than me and Liv."

Cragen accepted the explanation.

"Counselor, what do you want us to do?" he turned to the redhead.

Casey crossed her arms on her chest and looked at the screen, then switched between the tired detectives and spoke the words they all had been thinking, "Get out victim to talk, it's the only way."

"We'll never get permission," Fin was quick.

"I think Jennifer is scared of something," Olivia decided.

"Maybe she's here illegally?" Cragen suggested.

Fin was the fastest to react and he got on his computer to see if the Captain was correct.

"What do you mean Elliot got stuck by a loverboy?" Casey asked Olivia quietly, as she had troubles understanding what was meant by that.

"We had a guy high on PCP on Monday and he managed to break some furniture – it was a mess in here, but he also threw Elliot through a window. He's fine except his one arm is numb and the glass came close to severing his radial nerve," Olivia explained, "The doctor ordered him home for two weeks."

"He must be enjoying that," Casey commented.

"Absolutely. Last time I heard he was cleaning and reorganizing my kitchen," Olivia said with fake enthusiasm.

Before Casey could say anything else, Fin interrupted. "Jennifer Benitez had a green card, but it expired last year," he informed.

"So that's what she was so scared about," Olivia realized.

"And I bet Milstead was well aware of that, so he could use it to pin Jennifer to the corner," Fin continued.

"That son of a bitch," Olivia cursed.

Cragen stood from the chair and looked at his watch, "Okay, we can try to talk to her and assure her, that we don't care about her immigration status, maybe then we can talk to Diego and get our statement," he decided, "Or has anyone better ideas?"

Olivia, Fin and Casey shook their heads.

"Olivia, go talk to her, Fin you should head over to CSU, they ought to have something by now," Cragen ordered.

Casey followed Cragen's lead and got up. She grabbed her bag and requested to be kept in the loop, then she left the precinct.

***SVU***

Cragen angrily dropped the telephone receiver as he hang up the call. He got up from the desk and left his office to see Fin working behind the desk in the bullpen.

"I just got a about Jennifer and Diego," Cragen said.

"Did Liv call you?" Fin asked and looked up.

Cragen shook his head.

Fin looked up and waited for Cragen to explain.

"Comes out there were some poisonous vapors in the apartment. The unis are evacuating the building as we speak. I want you on scene running point," Cragen explained.

"How's Liv?" Fin asked as he was concerned for his co-worker.

"Passed out, along with Diego and Jennifer. She's the one, who ordered people to get out of the building and call for ambulance. They gave her badge number, that's why I got the call, " Cragen replied.

Fin got up, "I'm going," he announced.

"Let me know, when you know something," Cragen ordered, "I'm gonna have to make a phone call."

"Stabler?" Fin asked.

Cragen barely nod.

Fin accepted the answer and left the bullpen in a rush. After Fin was out of sight, Cragen took a deep breath and descended to his office. He sat down behind his desk and took out his phone. As he ran through the contact list he found Elliot's name. Cragen waited and then pressed call – the younger man was not going to be happy.

Elliot picked up after third ring.

"Stabler," he answered.

"Elliot," Cragen said simply.

"Can't work a case without me?" Elliot joked.

"No, it's not the case. It's Olivia," Cragen said heavily.

"What happened?" Elliot asked quickly. He grabbed his jacket and keys instantly.

"There were some poisonous vapors in the building. Apparently she passed out, but that's all I know at this moment. Fin's on scene trying to figure out what happened exactly," Cragen explained.

"Where?" Elliot asked.

Cragen gave him the address. He didn't need to ask – Elliot was going to the scene and Cragen couldn't blame the detective nor was he going to stop him.

"Elliot, just let me know, when you know how she's doing," Cragen requested.

"I will," Elliot promised and hang up the phone.

Elliot drove to the address Cragen gave him. He could see multiple police cars on the scene along with the ambulance. The officers were securing the area, when Elliot approached. He cursed himself for not taking his badge along, so he was denied access to the area.

He saw Fin walking in the area along with CSU team.

"Fin," Elliot shouted.

Fin motioned the officers to let Elliot in, who didn't waste any time and ran to Fin.

"Where's Liv?" he asked Fin.

Fin looked around the ambulances, "She's in an ambulance, the EMT was checking on her a moment ago. She has regained consciousness," he explained.

Elliot nod and left Fin to talk with the CSU technician. He ran to the ambulance, but Olivia wasn't there. It was the fourth one he looked, where he found Olivia. She was on a gurney, while the male paramedic checked her vitals.

"Liv," he breathed on in relief upon seeing her.

"El, Cragen called you?" Olivia asked.

Elliot nod and got to her side. He took her hand in his and leaned on the gurney as the EMT checked her lungs and pulse.

"Were you also in the building?" the paramedic asked Elliot.

"No, I just got to the scene. I'm her partner," Elliot explained, "How is she?" Elliot asked.

"I'm fine," Olivia interrupted.

The paramedic and Elliot ignored Olivia.

"Her vitals are good," the paramedic said, "But that's all I can say. We still have no idea what happened here and made all those people sick."

"I'm gonna go check on Diego and Jennifer," Olivia announced, she let go of Elliot's hand and got into a sitting position, throwing her legs on the ground with her back towards Elliot.

"I can't let you go anywhere, detective," the EMT technician was firm, he came to stand in front of Olivia.

Elliot moved to the other side of the gurney and placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I'm gonna go see, okay? You stay here and make sure that you're okay," Elliot suggested.

Olivia looked up at him, while challenging him, but she realized that she won't win it, so she lowered her gaze and nod.

As the night air was cold, Olivia shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I'll get you a blanket," the EMT announced and left the detectives alone.

Elliot stepped closer in front of her, leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, then kissed her temple and pulled her to him. Olivia buried her head on his chest and wrapped an arm around him.

"I was worried after Cragen called. Let the guy make sure you're gonna be okay," he whispered.

"I'm okay," she replied quickly.

"Humor me," Elliot said.

They heard a throat being cleared behind them. Elliot turned around and let Olivia go. It was the paramedic, who held up a blanket in one hand and some papers in the other.

Elliot took the blanket and wrapped it around Oliva.

"You were going to see Jennifer and Diego," Olivia reminded Elliot.

Elliot nod and walked towards the next ambulance, while he heard Olivia spelling out her name as the paperwork needed to be filled.

He noticed the nearest ambulance driving away and he headed towards the next one, but he saw O'Halloran walk past with a hazmat suit, so he caught up with him, hoping the forensic technician had more information about what's going on here.

"What do we have?" he asked.

"Shouldn't you be at home?" O'Halloran asked.

Elliot tilted his head and O'Halloran nodded knowingly – Olivia.

"I don't know much yet. I'm about to go in," the forensic technician said, "How's Liv?"

"Fighting medical assistance, when I left," Elliot chuckled.

O'Halloran smiled. "You can tell her, that she probably saved quite a few tenants. This could be much worse," he offered.

Elliot nod.

O'Halloran was called, so he apologized and left Elliot alone. He noticed Fin nearing, so he postponed going back to Olivia for a moment.

"How's Liv?" Fin asked instantly.

"Fighting the paramedic," Elliot replied, "Her vitals are good, but that's all we know now."

"Good. She's the last one here, the last ambulance just left," Fin announced.

"What happened here?" Elliot asked.

"Some kind of airborne toxin, but we don't know for sure. HAZMAT's getting ready to go in and see what caused it," Fin explained.

"How many victims?" Elliot asked.

"Last call was 12, but we are still looking if there's more," Fin replied.

Elliot nod. He heard Olivia's voice and he automatically looked towards the ambulance.

"Go, I'm meeting Cragen in a moment," Fin said.

Elliot left his co-worker and returned to Olivia, who was sitting in the back of the ambulance with the blanket around her and requested release papers.

"She's refusing to go in," the paramedic explained, when Elliot arrived.

"Diego and Jennifer are in the hospital, you should be there too," Elliot turned to Olivia.

Elliot looked at Olivia seriously and sat down by her side, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him.

"Liv, let them take care of you," Elliot pleaded, he decided to thread carefully, "Do it for me."

Olivia glared at Elliot.

"I'm fine. I feel fine, I just wanna know what happened," Olivia argued back.

"You passed out, detective. You're not fine," the paramedic reasoned, "I need to take you to the ER."

Olivia gave both males a hard glare. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm telling you, I'm okay," Olivia argued back.

"We don't know what made you to pass out," the paramedic tried.

"Liv, listen to him," Elliot added.

Unaware to Olivia and Elliot, Fin and Cragen reached the ambulance upon hearing Olivia protesting.

"Give me the release paper to sign," Olivia demanded and got up from the ambulance so she could take the paper from the male paramedic, and with that she pushed Elliot away from her.

"Is there a problem here?" Cragen asked, he could see Elliot let out a breath of relief.

"She's refusing medical care," the paramedic explained.

Olivia rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

"Well, you must have heard wrong, because detective Benson wouldn't violate procedure," Cragen said firmly.

"I don't need to go to the hospital, Captain," Olivia argued.

"Liv, you passed out and we don't know why," Elliot said and stood up.

Fin interrupted, "HAZMAT's ready to go in," he said as he was just passed the message.

Cragen looked at Olivia, Elliot and the paramedic, he knew he needed a quick solution to the problem.

"Take her," he said to the paramedic, then turned to Olivia, "restrain her if you have to," he added and walked away.

The paramedic moved to the gurney and dropped his papers on the base as always, then he waited for Olivia to get on it.

"Come on, detective, I am not afraid to restrain you, if there's a need," the paramedic said firmly.

Olivia was defeated and she knew it well, so when Elliot pushed her slightly forward, she stepped closer to the gurney. Elliot took the blanket from her, when she sat down on it and lied down.

"Good girl," Elliot commented.

The paramedic secured her with the straps and covered her with the blanket. His partner came and they pushed her into the rig.

"Can I ride with you?" Elliot asked.

"Yes, we'll get her on O2 and saline solution, and then we're ready to go," the paramedic replied.

Elliot stayed outside, while Olivia was hooked onto multiple machines and bags, when they were done, the paramedic, who was with Olivia all this time, let Elliot know and he got in. They closed the door and drove off with Olivia, who was the last one to be taken to the ER.

"Your oxygen levels are low," the paramedic commented, when he looked at the screen, then he went to sit in front, leaving the detectives alone in the back.

Elliot sat by her side and had her hand in his while the sound of her steady heart beats filled the air. His other hand was running from her hair to her shoulder absentmindedly.

"See, you're not that fine after all," Elliot said to Olivia.

Olivia ignored him and took a deep breath.

"A few days ago the roles were reversed and I liked it much better," Olivia teased.

"But think, we both stay at home for a few days now," Elliot said.

"Oh, no, mister. I will find out who did this and why," Olivia protested.

Elliot smiled at her stubbornness and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"We'll see," he said.

Olivia toyed with her pulse oximetry sensor on her finger, finally she covered his hand with hers, so his hand was sandwiched between her hands.

"I'm glad that you're here, even if I'm not always showing it," she said quietly.

"I know," he assured her, "I love you."

"Me too," she replied.

Olivia tried to lean forward, but she was fastened to the gurney, so her attempt failed; it was Elliot who leaned in instead and covered her lips with his. He pulled his hand from between hers and held it on her side, while the other caressed her cheek. She held onto his head, keeping him steady in case he'd decide to pull away, which was not likely.

He kissed her passionately, but slowly; he took his time, savoring the feeling of her lips underneath his and his tongue in her mouth, dancing along with hers.

Elliot pulled away, when the steady beating of her heat became slightly higher, but not enough to alert the paramedics sitting in front.

"Your heart's racing, detective Benson," he teased.

Olivia smiled and looked around the room while blinking her eyes.

"El, I think I'm gonna pass out," Olivia admitted.

Elliot let go of her hand and went to alert the paramedic sitting in front. He came back with Elliot and checked Olivia, who had indeed lost consciousness again.

"What's happening?" Elliot asked with fear.

"She's out. We don't know what made her pass out the first time, but I'd assume that whatever it is, is the cause this time too. Her vitals are steady for now, but I'm giving her another bag of fluids," he explained as he checked her vitals and attached another bag of liquids to her.

Elliot sat back at his side and grabbed her hand with both of his, her steady heart beat the only sound in his ears as he turned to his God to pray for Olivia's wellbeing.

"We're here," one paramedic said moments before the car came to stop.

The doctors were already waiting at the trauma bay, when they opened the doors and paramedics got Olivia out with Elliot by her side.

"Detective Benson," Dr. Jane Larom said as she saw, who the patient was. They had met on multiple occasions, but never as Olivia the patient.

"Detective Olivia Benson, 39. She was also at the building. Lost consciousness on the scene, but she came to after our arrival. Her oxygen levels are pretty low, but her vitals are good," the paramedic explained.

"Let's get her to a trauma room," Dr. Larom instructed.

As they moved in the hallways Elliot reluctantly let go of her hand and settled for walking behind the gurney, as the doctor was by Olivia's side. At some point Olivia opened her eyes, when she was wheeled through the hospital. Handicapped children from the same house were on the gurneys by the wall, when she did so.

"You're awake," the doctor acknowledged, "You have strong vital signs."

Olivia looked at the handicapped girl, who requested to be taken home and doctor trying to calm her down.

"Were they in the building too?" Olivia asked as she looked back towards the kids.

"They and a third mentally handicapped kid with their foster parents, and another family with two children," doctor replied as they stopped moving a second so they could turn left.

"Elliot?" Olivia asked, when she caught a glimpse of him walking behind the EMT.

"I'm here," Elliot said and came to walk behind the doctor by her side.

Olivia looked satisfied with his presence and focused back to the victims, "Are they gonna be okay?" she asked.

"Well, they were exposed for a lot longer, so they took a bigger hit," Dr. Larom explained.

"Bigger hit of what?" Olivia asked.

"Poisonous vapors in the apartment," Dr. Larom replied. She hit the break on the gurney as they arrived to the trauma room, where Olivia was to be staying for the time being. She left Olivia's side to prepare the hospital bed for her arrival.

"We were poisoned?" Olivia asked, Elliot grabbed her hand once more, when he noticed that she was looking for it.

"We don't know for sure, but it's most likely and we're working with that until we get additional information," she explained.

Olivia was wheeled to the hospital bed, where the EMTs helped to lift her off the gurney. Elliot took the blanket and handed it to the EMTs as they left Olivia in the hands of a doctor with Elliot standing by her side.

She was still strapped to the stretcher.

"I want a tox screen, blood gas. Let's get some more O2 on her," the doctor ordered.

"Why do I still need oxygen?" Olivia asked.

"To bring up your oxygen saturation," Dr. Larom explained, "I'll be right back," she excused herself.

A nurse came to her, "Left arm okay, detective?" she asked friendly.

"Yeah," Olivia replied, but her focus was pulled as she saw Diego being wheeled out and Jennifer in a bed next to her.

"You have good veins," the nurse commented.

Elliot rolled his eyes at the statement – of course she has, Olivia's a detective, which means that she's in good physical form.

His phone started ringing and Fin's name popped up on the screen.

"Yeah. Do you know something more?" he answered and didn't spend any time on politeness.

"O'Halloran's about to go in. How's Liv?" Fin asked.

"She passed out in the ambulance, but she's back. They are giving her oxygen, but they are still running tests," Elliot explained.

He felt Olivia squeeze his hand, so she looked at her and saw that the nurse drew blood, and that made her squeeze his hand.

"Will you let me know if anything changes?" Fin requested.

"Of course. Let me know, when you find out what made her pass out," Elliot requested in return.

"Will do," Fin replied.

Elliot hanged up and turned back to Olivia.

"Welcome back," he said and sat down by her bedside.

"Do they know anything?" Olivia asked.

Elliot shook his head.

The nurse finished taking her blood and left the room.

"You scared me there for a moment," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't do that intentionally," she apologized.

"I know," he replied.

He tilted his head to the side, and ran his hand over his face and short hair, "Don't ever do that again, because I can't lose you," he said heavily, "You're everything I have. You and my kids. I wouldn't survive without either of you."

"El…" Olivia managed. She unhooked the strap over her chest to give herself more mobility and got into sitting position. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, her head fell to his shoulder. He didn't hesitate and returned the hug, he might have held onto her tighter than he usually did, but he didn't care and neither did she.

She had no idea, how long they stayed like that, but they broke apart, when nurses walked through the doors. Two of them wheeled Jennifer out of the room, while the other two came to Olivia.

Elliot jumped off the bed and let them do their job. They removed the stretched from underneath her and changed the saline drip on her vein.

"We'll be taking you to your room now," the nurse informed them.

They started moving the bed, Elliot was quick to come to help and grabbed the side of the bed. Olivia was taken to a room with 2 patient beds in it, but the other one was empty.

"Dr. Larom will be back to check on you later," one of the nurses informed her before leaving.

Elliot removed his jacket and resumed his position, he sat down on the edge of her bed. He moved his hand to her thigh and gave a small smile to her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Olivia replied.

Elliot gave her a glare and raised his eyebrow, silently telling her to tell the truth as he didn't believe her.

"Really," she replied, "I feel fine. I'm okay. Whatever it was, it's out of my system and when the doctor comes back with my blood results, then she'll tell the same thing," Olivia was certain.

"Of course you are," Elliot replied with irony.

She got into sitting position, so she was at the same level with him and kissed him quickly.

"You're cute, when you're worried; but now is not the time or place," Olivia said with a smile.

He wrapped his both hands around her and hugged her tightly, to which she responded automatically. Elliot breathed her in, his nose in her hair, so he sensed the fading smell of her conditioner, which he adored.

"You smell good," he whispered.

"Thank you," Olivia replied.

They stayed like that for some time, both comfortable and glad that she seemed to be okay, and glad to be together.

His ringing phone interrupted the moment. Elliot grunted and pulled away from Olivia while fishing the phone out of his pocket. He saw his daughter's name flash on the screen and he cursed loudly. Olivia looked at him with questions written over her face.

"I was supposed to have dinner with Kathleen tonight," Elliot explained quickly, then picked up the phone.

"Yeah, Kathleen," he said to the phone and stood from the bed.

Olivia laid back on the bed, but kept her eyes on Elliot as he paced in the room.

"I know, honey, I didn't forget. There was a situation at work," he explained and looked at Olivia, who gazed at him seriously.

"I'm okay, I was at home, when it went down," Elliot replied quickly and came to a stop. Olivia assumed he was listening to Kathleen, but she realized rather quickly by the way Elliot was looking at her, he was debating on telling Kathleen about her.

Olivia wasn't much help as she didn't give him any instructions or signs, so Elliot walked back towards her and took her hand, "It's Liv," he decided finally, "No, she's stable. They don't know yet, but probably some poison. We'll know more after the doctor comes back with the results," Elliot explained.

After what seemed like eternity, Elliot covered the mouthpiece with his hand and turned to Olivia, "Kathleen wants to come visit, is it okay?" he asked Olivia. She shrugged her shoulders and nod – she didn't really need Kathleen here, but if she wanted to come, then she wouldn't stop her.

Elliot gave Kathleen Olivia's location and ended the call.

"She promised to be here in 30 minutes," Elliot informed her.

"You should go and have dinner with her, I'll be home by the time you get back," Olivia encouraged. Before Elliot could protest, the doctor walked into the room.

"Not so fast detective," Dr. Larom said after overhearing the last statement.

Both Olivia and Elliot turned their attention to the doctor and waited for some answers. Olivia got into sitting position and Elliot chose to stand by her bed. Dr. Larom listened to Olivia's heart and lungs without saying a word, then put the stethoscope around her neck and turned to Olivia.

"What's wrong with her?" Elliot asked.

"We put a rush on your blood work and it shows that you have half the normal amount of cholinesterase," Dr. Larom explained.

"What is that?" Olivia asked.

"It's an enzyme that helps regulate the nervous system. The levels drop, when you've been exposed to organophosphates," the doctor explained.

"So will it get better?" Olivia asked

"I'm gonna give you a shot of atropine, it's an antidote," Dr. Larom explained and got a syringe from the pocket, unwrapped it and filled it with named medicine, "Unless you've been exposed in long term, you should be okay in about 24 hours."

"So I can go now?" Olivia asked and made a move to get up from the bed, but Elliot stopped her before the doctor could.

"No, I'm gonna have to keep you here overnight. Maybe we'll find out which type made you sick," Dr. Larom ordered and gave her the injection.

"But she is gonna be okay?" Elliot asked to confirm.

Dr. Larom nod her head, "She was exposed to it for a short time, so I see no reason why she shouldn't be, but we have no idea which type she inhaled, so the recovery time might vary."

Elliot seemed satisfied with the answer.

"HAZMAT's guys just arrived and they requested your clothing, so I'll have a nurse bring you a gown, so you can change," the doctor instructed, "Were you also in the building?" she turned to Elliot.

He shook his head.

"Okay. I can have another bed transported into the room, so you can stay the night if you'd like to," Dr. Larom offered Elliot.

"It's not necessary, but I'll let you know, when something changes," Elliot brushed it off.

Dr. Larom smiled and excused herself, so Olivia and Elliot were alone once again. Just as the doctor promised, soon a nurse walked to the room and handed Olivia hospital gown and bags, that reminded her of evidence bags.

Olivia looked at the gown and then at Elliot.

"Do you want me to leave the room?" he asked out of formality.

Olivia shook her head, "I think we're well past that point," she replied.

She hopped off the hospital bed and stood in front of Elliot. He automatically grabbed her shoulders to steady her, ignoring the fact that she didn't need it. She removed his hands from her shoulders and took off her oxygen tube. Then she moved her hands to the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. She glanced at Elliot, who avoided looking at her.

"You can leave, you know," Olivia said calmly, "I don't want my nakedness to make you uncomfortable."

He shook his head and lowered his eyes, "I'm not uncomfortable, but I don't want to get way too comfortable with your nakedness."

Olivia removed her bra and handed it to Elliot, who put it in the bag along with her shirt. She took the gown and covered herself with that, then turned her back to Elliot, silently asking him to tie the gown behind her back. He understood her request and tied her up.

She removed her work pants along with her gun and badge still on her belt, then dropped her pants in the bag and sipped it close, while Elliot placed her gun and badge on the on the counter.

Elliot turned her around and handed her the oxygen tube, which she took and put over her nose. He removed the band from her hair and let her hair fall on her shoulders.

"I really like your longer hair," he commented and ran his fingers in her hair.

She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. "I really like you," she whispered as she pulled away. Elliot smiled and kissed her temple, "I like you too," he replied, "Now get in the bed and I'm gonna get rid of your clothes," he decided.

Olivia rolled her eyes and chuckled, "There are so many things I could think about, but the reality of the situation is about the last one of them."

Elliot smiled as well. "Let's just wait until they release you and then we can see about those other things," he suggested and grabbed the bag with her clothes.

Olivia made a face, pulled back the covers and sat down on the bed. As Elliot left the room, he saw Olivia lie and pull the covers over herself.

Elliot didn't need to go far as he saw familiar guys come towards him in the hallway. He handed them the bag with Olivia's clothes and saw they were carrying multiple other bags with what he assumed were clothes from the other victims.

Just as he was about to go back to Olivia, he saw Kathleen approaching.

"Kathleen," Elliot said to catch his daughter's attention.

"Dad," Kathleen responded and ran to her father.

Kathleen hugged him as she reached him. "How's Liv?" she asked.

"They gave her atropine and keep her overnight, but they are hoping that she'll be fine in 24 hours," Elliot explained and released Kathleen.

Elliot tilted his head to point Kathleen towards Olivia's room. They entered the room, when Olivia was on the phone. She acknowledged her company, but continued her conversation.

"Cragen just informed me about the situation," Olivia explained.

"Do they know something more?" Elliot asked.

"Not really, but they found the organophosphate. O'Halloran's suspecting sleeper cell in there since the chemical has unknown composition," Olivia explained, "But that's about it."

"What happened?" Kathleen asked as she was oblivious to the situation.

"I went to talk to the mother of our vic, to make her change her mind and apparently there was this organophosphate in the air that made us pass out," Olivia explained. "I'm sorry about your plans though," she added.

"Liv," Elliot said and shook his head, trying to shrug off the apology.

"I was so worried, when dad said that you were in the hospital," Kathleen said.

"I'm fine Kathleen, no need to worry. You should be worried about your dad, who has a real injury," Olivia said and looked at Elliot.

Kathleen seemed to be a bit confused, "You haven't told her?" Olivia asked and the silence in the room was enough to give her an answer.

"Dad?" Kathleen asked.

"There was some guy high on drugs, who was violent and I got some glass cuts. Nothing serious, just some numbness," Elliot explained uncomfortably.

Kathleen hugged Elliot again, "You can't keep doing that, daddy," she said.

"I'm fine Kathleen," Elliot tried to brush it off.

Olivia smiled at the moment there, she had always enjoyed watching Elliot interact with his children and maybe that is one of the reasons she is attracted to him.

"You two are impossible and so bad at social skills. When something like that happens, you tell it to your family and kids. And you too, Olivia, you might not be our mother, but you're a part of our lives, which means that we care about you," Kathleen said after pulling away from Elliot.

"There has been no time, Kathleen. With everything happening, I just lost track of time and forgot to call you," Elliot tried.

"And that's why I think it's a good idea, that you two go have your dinner tonight," Olivia said.

"Don't be silly, Olivia," Kathleen replied.

"No, I'm serious. Look, It has been a long day and I'm just gonna go to sleep, but you two could go out and catch up, so your dad can fill you in everything that has happened," Olivia reasoned.

"But…" Kathleen said and looked her father and then back at Olivia.

"Go," Olivia urged.

"Are you sure that you'll be okay?" Elliot asked with hesitation.

Olivia nod confidently.

"Call me if there's anything," Elliot requested.

"I will," Olivia promised.

Elliot moved closer to the bed and took her hand in his. Kathleen, sensing that she was interrupting, excused herself and promised to wait outside.

Olivia got into a sitting position and tilted her head. Elliot sat down by the bedside so he was at the same level with her and kissed her wordlessly.

"Go, enjoy your night," Olivia urged, when they broke apart.

"I can stay if you want. Kathleen will understand," Elliot tried.

"I'm fine. As I said I'll just probably fall asleep, so go," Olivia said.

Elliot smiled and kissed her again, "I love you," he whispered.

"Love you, too," she replied.

"I'll come back afterwards. Do you want me to bring anything with me?" he asked.

"No, I'm okay. And you don't have to come back. Go home, get a goodnight sleep and I'll be released in the morning," Olivia said easily.

"No way. I just got you back, there's no way that I'm letting you spend another night alone," Elliot said easily.

Olivia smiled and raised her eyebrows. Elliot laughed and kissed her again.

"Get out now, your daughter's waiting," she ordered playfully, to which Elliot smiled.

With that Elliot let go of her hand and left the hospital room to have dinner – a very late dinner though – and catch up with Kathleen.

Olivia was true to her word, because when Elliot got back hours later, Olivia was deep asleep. He stayed by her side and looked at her sleeping form. He noticed yellow hospital bracelet around her right wrist and some fluids going into her vein, which meant a doctor or nurse had come to check on her after he had left.

Just as he had sat down on a chair beside her and popped his feet up on another chair, he noticed someone entering the room and nearing Olivia. It was a Hispanic woman in her 30ties, whose hair was pulled back behind her and she looked like she had been crying. She looked somewhat hesitant once she noticed Elliot in the room.

"I'm Jennifer," she said quickly.

Elliot realized, that this was the woman Olivia had gone to talk to and whose apartment was full of organophosphate.

"I'm Olivia's partner, Elliot Stabler," he introduced himself.

"They told me she saved us," Jennifer was grateful.

Elliot nod. He noticed Olivia starting to stir at the sound of someone talking and he looked down at her, when she opened her eyes sleepily. She looked at Jennifer, Elliot and then back at Jennifer.

"Is everything okay?" Olivia asked instantly.

Jennifer shook her head heavily, "They did tests. They found cancer in Diego's blood," she said between sobs.

Olivia pulled herself up and leaned on her elbow. She ripped the O2 tube from her nose and turned to Jennifer. "Cancer. Did they say what caused it?" she asked seriously.

"No," Jennifer replied and cried.

Olivia looked at Jennifer in shock, when she felt Elliot move closer and take her hand once more and squeeze it lightly.

The nurse entered the room to see Jennifer out of bed and instructed her back to the bed, beside it was past bedtime. She also offered to bring another bed for Elliot, but he refused once more – he just figured if he'd spend the night, then it would be wrapped around Olivia.

"I'm gonna get those sons of bitches," Olivia announced once the nurse and Jennifer had left.

"You will, but now we need to rest," Elliot replied. He handed her the oxygen tube, which she put back reluctantly.

"You're staying?" Olivia asked.

"If you don't mind sharing the bed," Elliot was suggestive and tilted his head.

Olivia's lips curled into a smile and she shifted further onto the side to make room for him. Elliot released her hand, took off his jacket, kicked his shoes off and joined her in the bed. He pulled the cover over himself as well as her. Both of them shifted to make themselves comfortable in the small space.

They settled with Olivia on her back and Elliot on his side wrapped around her. He held her between both of his hands with his head on her shoulder and one leg around hers. Olivia let her hand rest in his hair. He leaned upwards and kissed her jaw.

"Good night," he whispered and closed his eyes, as he realized how tired he really was.

"Night," she mumbled, halfway asleep.

He snuggled further into her and placed his head against her neck. With that he let the sleep claim him, knowing Olivia would follow soon after.

***SVU***

The morning arrived with the detectives waking up to loud noise of Olivia's ringing phone. Elliot reached out and handed it to her, but kept his eyes closed and refused to let go of her. He vaguely listened to Olivia talking with either Fin, Cragen or Munch based on her tone and the topic.

"What do they have?" Elliot asked after she dropped the phone on her pillow.

"Fin just informed me that Seth Millstead is dead. He's the one, who took the photos and with him our only lead died too," Olivia replied.

"You'll figure it out," Elliot replied confidently, "What time is it?" he asked.

"A little past 7am," Olivia replied as she had checked the time on her phone.

Elliot opened his eyes and moved himself upwards, so he could kiss her.

"Morning," he whispered against her lips.

"Good morning," she replied.

Elliot pulled back, yawned and got up from the bed. He ran his fingers over his face to brush off the remains of sleep. He took a seat on the chair by her bed and put on his shoes.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Olivia shrugged her shoulders, got into sitting position and leaned forward so her head fell on her hands which leaned on her knees. Her hair fell over her face as she closed her eyes again. She groaned. Then she raised her head, "I'm tired," she admitted.

Elliot smiled and sat down at the edge of the bed opposite to her. He placed his left hand on her back and pulled slightly, so she leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder. She took hold of his right hand and moved her fingers upward to the shoulder, keeping her touch light.

"Is it still numb?" she asked.

"Somewhat. I can feel some pressure from your touch, but it's still a bit numb," he said.

She laughed, "Feels like we're a pair of invalids," she said.

Elliot agreed wordlessly.

"Do you want coffee or something?" he asked.

"Sure," Olivia replied.

Elliot released her and got up. He took his wallet from his jacket pocket and left the room with a mission to get coffee and something to eat.

While Elliot was away, Dr. Larom entered the room.

"You're awake," she noted.

Olivia nod and waited while the doctor checked her vitals and monitors, while she made some notes on her chart.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Larom asked Olivia after she was done.

"A bit tired, but nothing to complain about," Olivia replied honestly.

"Well, your oxygen level is back to normal and you have no complaints, therefore I see no problem with releasing you, but I strongly recommend taking it easy today," Dr. Larom said.

Olivia nod, even though she had made up her mind and she was going back to work today.

"As for your clothes, then HAZMAT has confiscated them. All I can give you are pair of scrubs unless you can have your partner bring you something," the doctor offered.

"I'll take the scrubs," Olivia decided, she wasn't going to wait until Elliot could get back to her place and bring her something to wear.

"Okay, I'll have a nurse bring you scrubs and I'll prepare the discharge papers," Dr. Larom explained.

Olivia nod and the doctor left the room.

When Elliot got back with two cups of coffee and sandwiches, she was lying on her back and staring at the ceiling.

"Got you coffee and chicken sandwich," Elliot said and placed them on the nightstand.

"Thanks," she replied.

He took his seat on the chair by her bed and had his breakfast.

"Doctor was here to see me while you were away," Olivia said casually and sipped her coffee.

"What did she say?" Elliot asked.

Olivia took a generous bite from her sandwich and waited until she has chewed it before giving him a reply. "I'm getting discharged, but they are not giving me my clothes back," she filled him in.

"I can go and bring you something," Elliot offered.

"They are giving me scrubs," Olivia explained.

Elliot nod.

They finished eating their breakfast in silence and after that nurse came with promised scrubs and slippers, because they had confiscated Olivia's boots as well.

"The doctor should be here with the discharge papers in a moment," the nurse informed them.

Olivia thanked the nurse politely and then they were alone in her room again. Elliot took the scrubs from her and unfolded them. Olivia got up from the bed and took them from Elliot, so she could change. She turned herself around and silently asked Elliot to untie her gown, which he did. He stayed behind her while she put on the scrub top and bottoms. After she had chanced, Elliot dropped the gown on the bed and Olivia turned around.

"You know every man has his own doctor fantasy and I might get mine fulfilled," he whispered seductively.

Olivia closed the distance between them, ran her hand over his chest and abdomen, leaned upwards and whispered: "In your dreams, detective." Then she descended and slipped into the slippers she was given.

Elliot coughed out. "Tease," he accused.

"Guilty as charged," Olivia admitted, "But I am going back to precinct while you get to enjoy you DL at home."

Elliot frowned.

"I'm cleared to go back to work, you're not. And don't tell me you don't understand why I need to go back. You'd do the same if you could," Olivia reasoned.

Elliot nod. "That doesn't mean I like it," he was defeated, "But I understand."

She moved closer to him and gently kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

Elliot's phone beeped, indicating a new text message. Olivia descended and sat on the edge of the bed while Elliot took out his phone. He flipped it open and read the text.

"Fin had my car transported here," he informed Olivia.

He put his phone back in his pocket, and then the doctor walked back to the room. She had papers in her hand.

"I've got your discharge papers here," she informed and gave them to Olivia with instructions to sign them. Olivia did that gladly and then handed them back. Dr. Larom did her final check on Olivia and then taped her hand, where I.V. had been the previous day.

"You're ready to go, but if you feel dizzy or lightheaded, don't hesitate to come back. We still don't know all the consequences this gas might or might not have," she instructed.

Olivia nod. "Of course," Elliot replied firmly.

"Okay, but if you don't have any other questions, then you're free to go," she said and left the room.

Olivia got up from the bed, Elliot grabbed her personal effects and his jacket, then they were ready to go. He grabbed her hand as they walked through the hospital into the parking lot. It took them some time to locate his car, but they managed to find it finally. Both of them got into the car.

She looked at the back seat and noticed her gray sweatshirt there.

"I can have a part of my own clothes too," she announced and turned herself around to get it. It was only after she had grabbed the clothing item, that she realized, it was Elliot's instead, "Or then not."

"You can use it if you want, it's not like I'm gonna miss it while you have it. Besides I have no idea, what makes you like this sweatshirt so much," he commented as he started the car and drove away.

"It's warm and soft and comfortable, what's there not to like?" she asked.

"So are you," he said easily.

"What?" Olivia asked, unsure if they were talking about the same thing.

Elliot stopped at the red light and looked at her. "You are mostly warm, you have soft skin and being next to you is the most comfortable position ever. You can't comfort the comfort you offer with anything, not even this gray sweatshirt," he explained simply.

"Maybe we should head back and have you checked," Olivia deadpanned.

Elliot gave her a look and then turned his attention to the road ahead.

"I'm serious. I love the way you join me on the couch so our bodies are barely apart and sometime during the night you end up falling asleep on me or climbing onto my lap. I adore the way you come to my desk and look at the screen over my head, while you casually lean over and keep your hands on my shoulders, so I can feel your scent. But most of all I love falling asleep with you in my arms," he elaborated.

"You do know how to compliment a woman and put her in a difficult situation, where she doesn't have such a speech worked out to return and all she could do is thank her man," Olivia spoke.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.

They stayed silent for some time, until Elliot reached a crossroad.

"You sure, you want to go to precinct?" he asked.

"Yeah, I have to go and see where the guys are with the investigation," she replied confidently.

Elliot didn't push her into coming home, so he just took the right turn and headed towards the precinct.

He came to stop, when he reached his destination.

"I'll stay at your place, so if you need me, I'll be nearby," Elliot said.

"Okay. But I doubt that I'll need you before tonight," Olivia said confidently.

"Just make sure you're okay and that you come home tonight," Elliot said softly.

Olivia nod and looked at her boyfriend. She leaned over the seat and kissed him. Elliot instantly wrapped his hands around her and deepened the kiss, she showed no signs of protest.

"Sure you don't need your sweatshirt?" she asked after pulling away.

Elliot shook his head confidently, "My way of claiming you, you know. It's a man thing. Besides it's gonna smell like you afterwards and there's nothing better. Makes it more soft and warm and comfortable as you put it," he said.

"Smells like you right now. I like it," she said after sniffing the sweatshirt.

"All the more reason for you to have it," he commented.

Olivia smiled.

"I love you, you know," she said easily.

"I know."

Olivia opened the door to exit the vehicle and stepped outside. Elliot rolled down the window after her and stuck his head out, "I love you too," he shouted after her. Olivia turned around and blew him a kiss. "See you tonight," she said and turned around again.

Elliot chuckled, closed the window and drove off.

Olivia entered the precinct, while it was still waking up. Some people sent her with looks, probably based on her outfit, which wasn't that common for a detective. She reached the right floor and headed towards Cragen's office, where Fin and Cragen were discussing the case.

"… the fibbies took over. They also want everything we got on Millstead's kiddie porn," Cragen said just as Olivia neared the office.

"Can't think of a reason not to give it to them," Fin agreed.

"So that's it? We're done?" Olivia asked and announced her presence. Both Fin and Cragen turned to her. Cragen looked her over, silently questioning her clothing options.

"HAZMAT confiscated my clothes," she explained and pulled the sweatshirt tighter around herself.

"You could have gone home," Cragen offered.

"Not till I find out what happened to me," she said confidently, letting her superior know that she was not going home and persuading her wouldn't work.

"We might not know for a couple of days and it's over for us anyway," Cragen explained the situation.

"You may want to wait and see what else we found in the Millstead's apartment," Munch said as he entered the office. He too gave Olivia a look, but didn't ask anything.

They all followed Munch to the squadroom, where Casey was already waiting. Olivia took a seat behind her desk, while others preferred to stand and watch the video.

As Munch put it on, Olivia felt her phone vibrate, she took it out of the pocket and gave it a look. There was a new text from Elliot. She flipped it open and read over the text, a smile appeared on her face.

"Don't get rid of the scrubs just yet." He wrote.

"I won't. See you tonight." She replied.

With that she put the phone away and focused on the screen, where Munch showed his findings and for a moment she looked forward getting home to her loving boyfriend, but then the reality came back and she was as determined as ever to find out what happened to her and all the people in those 3 apartments.

***SVU***

Three days since Olivia got poisoned, Elliot had barely seen her. Even though he was staying at her place, he felt her get into the bed rather than saw. It took him three days to make a change. Not only because he was bored as hell, but also because he missed his girlfriend. He made the decision, when it was past 11 pm and Olivia was still at the precinct to make it his duty to go and get her. Besides it would mean that Cragen had most likely left, because Elliot was banned from the precinct for 2 weeks.

He got there and saw the lights being turned off, only a desk lamp still giving out light on her desk.

"I thought the joint would be empty," he commented and came to her.

"And I thought you had to stay at home for two weeks," she replied.

Elliot smiled and came to stand by her side. He bent down, placed his hand on the side of her and kissed her hair.

"What can I do, I just missed you," he explained.

"Oh, you," she said and rolled her eyes.

Elliot moved some papers on her desk and sat on the edge opposite to her. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her towards him, so her head rested on his chest, while his hand ran up and down on her back.

"You wanna tell me what's keeping you here so late?" Elliot asked.

Olivia looked at her watch, "It's almost midnight," she said in shock. She had been convinced it was still around 10 pm.

"Yeah, it's the only reason I can be here. I didn't want to take the risk of running into Cragen," he commented.

"I know the feeling," she agreed and sipped her coffee.

"He rip you for your visit to Danford?" he asked casually.

Olivia pulled away from him and looked at him curiously. She couldn't recall telling him about her visit, which means he must have heard from someone else, "I see word travels fast," she commented.

"You know me, I've got spies everywhere," he made an excuse, but she probably knew that spy was Casey at this case. The ADA had called him right after she had confronted Olivia, but was unsuccessful, so Casey hoped that Elliot could help her accept the situation and quit this reckless pursuit, or come to her with some solid evidence. "Are you sure you want to do this to yourself?" he asked seriously and ran his hand over her back.

"So you think I should give up too?" she asked in disbelief – she was certain he'd do the same if roles were reversed.

"No, I think what you're doing is great," he replied, "And it's wonderful to be passionate about…" but he didn't get to finish.

"It's easy to be passionate, when you're one of the victims," she said quickly.

"Well at least you've got the guts to admit it, but what do you tell victims?" Elliot asked a question, but he didn't wait for her to reply, instead answered it himself, "Get help."

Olivia looked at him curiously, he had managed to make her mind function and she was beginning to doubt her methods.

"But the problem is, you're not following your advice right now. It's not healthy and apparently you manage to piss off the wrong people along the way," he continued.

"What do you mean by that? You want me to hire a lawyer?" she asked, not sure she was following, "If I sue this chemical company, they will bury me in paperwork for the next ten years. The kid could be dead by now. Elliot, I don't even know what made us sick. It's proprietary information," she explained the situation.

"Ways to find out," he commented.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means sometimes the only way to beat someone in a dirty fight is to get right down to the gutter with them," he offered, hoping she'd get the hint.

Olivia raised her eyebrows and reached for her cup, but Elliot grabbed a hold of her hand. She looked at him with her tired eyes.

"It's late, no more coffee for you. You're tired, so let's go home and you can come back here tomorrow with fresh mind and figure it out," he said quietly.

"I can't, El, this little boy need a solution right now," she tried.

"And I need you too," he argued, "I'm tired of falling asleep to empty bed and waking up to lukewarm sheets. This solitary treatment is driving me insane and I miss you."

Olivia nod reluctantly and yawned.

Elliot flashed a victorious smile and hopped down from the table. He held his hand up for her, which she took. He pulled her up and hugged her tight. "You'll figure it out, you always do. I believe in you," he whispered encouragement to her.

"Thanks," she whispered into his jacket.

He moved his hands to both sides of her head and lifted it so he they were face to face. He leaned his head down and kissed her lips.

"You're amazing," he whispered and kissed her again.

She smiled.

Elliot broke the contact and allowed her to grab her coat as well as close the computer. After she was done, Elliot took her hand and they headed towards the elevators.

"We need to make one stop," she said.

Elliot looked at her, but didn't ask anything. He simply nod.

"I need to talk to Morales," she clarified.

"Okay," he replied.

So after they reached the ground floor, Olivia headed to Morales, while Elliot decided to keep his distance and wait by the car.

Olivia joined him some time later in somewhat better mood, so he drove off, but decided against asking any questions.

They arrived shortly at her apartment, he parked the car and they got into the apartment. Both of them removed their shoes and coats. Without asking, he placed a plate of lasagna into the microwave and warmed it up for her. He also poured her a glass of juice and placed it on the table.

"I made lasagna," he announced, when he took the plate away from the microwave.

"Not hungry," she protested.

"No arguments, Olivia," he said and pointed at the chair. She took a seat and started eating, while Elliot sat opposite to her and watched her

Once Olivia took a bite, she realized how hungry she really was and ate the rest of the slice with hunger.

"Seems like you were hungry after all," he commented.

"Indeed. Thank you," she replied.

Elliot brushed off her gratefulness. "Do you want more?" he asked, but she shook her head with determination.

"I want a shower though," she said and got up.

Elliot placed her dishes in the sink and washed them before Olivia could. She descended into the bedroom, when Elliot got there, she had already removed most of her clothing as she was clad in underwear. Elliot followed suit and started undressing himself.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I could also use a shower," he said with a smile.

"El, I'm sorry, but I don't have the energy right now," she said quickly.

He smiled, threw his jeans on the chair absentmindedly and closed the distance between them. He cradled her head in his arms and kissed her.

"Despite common belief men don't always think about sex and do everything just to get laid. I trust you know better by now, at least you should know me. And if you don't then we're gonna have a serious conversation and I'll get to prove it to you with my actions," he said seriously.

"I know. You're way past doing whatever just to get into my pants," Olivia agreed.

"Hey," he protested, "I never did anything just to get into your pants," he defended himself and acted hurt.

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "So I have never got a bucket of flowers, massage or a delicious dinner; you never cleaned or did the dishes, because you wanted to have sex?" she asked.

Elliot shook his head, then changed and nod, "Fine, I might have done some of the things to get into bed with you, but I don't need to do that anymore," he tried.

Only after the words left his mouth, he realized that he had made things much worse for himself.

"You don't need to? What am I? Your personal sexual object to use?" Olivia asked and stepped back, away from his touch.

He ran his fingers over his face, trying to figure out a way how to come back from this, but once he realized there is none he was debating himself if there was a way he could still sleep in the bed that night or will he have to use her couch.

"Liv, you're not any of that. What I was trying to say is that not everything I do is just to get into your pants. I don't need to do nice things to you just to get into your pants, because I like bringing you flowers and cooking you dinner and such. If it leads to sex, then it's great, but I'm not doing it in that purpose. The words came out wrong," he tried to save himself.

Olivia crossed her hands on her chest and eyed him hard. He was lucky that looks couldn't kill, because otherwise he'd be dead.

"Fine, I'm gonna go take a shower, you can join if you want, but there's no way in hell you're getting any today," Olivia decided. "Or any day in this week," she added and entered the bathroom.

Elliot nod, admitting his defeat, but lucky that he wasn't banned on the couch and he still gets to take a shower with her.

When he got to the bathroom, she had already taken off her underwear and she was in the shower. Elliot joined her quickly – he dropped his boxers and threw them in dirty laundry, grabbed their towels and placed them on the cupboard next to shower cabin, then he moved the shower curtain so he could join her.

She turned the water off just as he entered, which he hoped was just a coincidence. Either was he grabbed her shampoo and put it in her hair, then started massaging her scalp to wash her hair. Olivia didn't seem to mind the treatment.

He stood behind her, she leaned onto him, but she avoided making physical contact other than his hands in her hair.

"You jealous of my hair, that makes you want to wash mine?" she teased.

"Of course," he joked.

"That's what I thought," she replied smartly.

He smiled and turned the water on. He took the nozzle in his hands, instructed her to bend her head backwards and let water flow over her long brown hair and wash away the shampoo. Then he grabbed her conditioner bottle, but Olivia took it from him, claiming he doesn't know how much to use it, which might as well be the truth. Instead he took her loofa and covered it with shower gel, then he started washing her from the top to bottom. He made sure not to pay any extra attention to the body parts he usually did, because showering together had often been foreplay. Still he couldn't avoid touching her breasts, as he washed them gently and the primal man inside of him couldn't resist giving them just a little bit more attention than the rest of her body. If Olivia was annoyed by that, she didn't say a word, instead she took his loofa, covered it with his shower gel and returned the favor in washing him.

He kneeled in front of her to wash her legs properly and that gave her good opportunity to run the loofa over his neck and upper back, he groaned loudly at the contact.

"Feels good," he mumbled.

After he was finished with her, he stood back up and Olivia took the opportunity to wash his lower body and bend down to wash his legs. After she got back at the same level with him, she discarded the loofa and ran her fingers over his right upper hand.

"How's the sensation?" she asked and moved his hand on his.

"Somewhat better, but you're touch is still pretty numb," he replied honestly.

Olivia accepted that, wrapped her hands around his neck, rose to her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips. He welcomed that with resting his hands on her back, possessively bringing her body against his. He couldn't stop himself, when his left hand fell downwards and cupped her round bottom, involuntarily bringing their bare genitals into contact.

She hissed into the kiss just as he groaned loudly at the sensation in his lower abdomen and he knew she could feel his physical reaction.

"El," she protested.

"I'm sorry, it was way too automatic," he apologized.

He expected her to pull away, but she leaned up to kiss him again, but this time with much more passion. That gave him more courage, as he started running his hands over her body, he found himself thankful for having almost full feeling in his fingers, so he could feel her foamy skin under his touch.

"You were right by the way," she said after pulling apart.

"About what?" he asked.

"You don't need to work hard to sleep with me," she said.

"I didn't mean it like that," he protested, because even if it is true, it's not what he wanted to say before.

"I know, but doesn't change the fact," she said calmly.

"You must know that I'm not taking you for granted. I still feel like I did years ago, when I came to your apartment and we started this thing. You're still the set of fresh air I can't get enough of," he spoke, trying to undo his previous sentence and take away all the uncertain feelings she might have.

"I know, El," she replied, "You've been holding onto me stronger than you ever have in these past months. You must know that I'm not taking you for granted either, but I think after all this time some things should come natural and this is one of them."

She explained and kissed him again. He moved his hands around her back and accidentally turned on the water. The surprise element caught them off guard and they broke apart, though that didn't stop them from letting the water wash off the shower gel, while their bodies were preparing to dance as one.

He caught her lips again and they moved, so the water ended up hitting them in the face and they broke apart once more.

"Just like Notebook, except the water is warm and we're lacking clothes," he commented.

"You've seen it?" she asked with slight surprise in her voice.

"I have two teenage daughters, who were obsessed with this Ryan Gos… something, guy. So yeah, I've seen the movie a couple of times more than I'd like to," he explained.

"You know every woman dreams of her own kiss in the rain followed by passionate night ever since the movie came out," Olivia teased.

Elliot tightened his firm hold on her back and pulled her close, right at the water and kissed her forcefully. Her breath got caught in her throat as she didn't expect that, but once she recovered she went along with the same force.

She left a trail of hungry kisses on his cheek, jaw and ended in his neck, while her hand moved downwards over his abdomen.

"God, Liv," he moaned.

She just continued kissing and sucking his skin right below his ear, which made him crazy. But when her hand reached real sensitive are, he came to a stop.

"Honey, I love what you're doing to me, but don't start something you are not planning on finishing," he warned her.

"I'm not so tired anymore," she said and bit her lower lip.

Elliot smiled and bent slightly to pick her up, but stopped when he remembered his injury.

"I'd pick you up and give you the full Notebook experience, but I don't think that's a wise idea right now," he commented.

"Wise choice, Stabler," she smirked.

Olivia turned off the water and opened the curtain. She grabbed for the towels, took one and tossed him the other, while she stepped out of the shower. Elliot stayed behind and quickly dried himself, then stepped out and wrapped the towel around his middle. Olivia was still trying to dry her hair.

"I am really starting to dislike my long hair," she commented.

Elliot took the towel from her and ran in through her hair. "I like your long hair," he said, gave up drying them and kissed her hair.

She chuckled, "Let's go to bed, I believe there is still something we need to finish," she said and dropped her towel on top of washing machine.

"Oh, just the words a man wants to hear," Elliot said, grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom.

Olivia sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at her boyfriend, "I believe you're overdressed," she stated at his towel, while she was bare of clothing.

Elliot smirked, removed the towel and threw it over his back absentmindedly, then he leaned down, pressed his lips against hers and pushed her down on her back while getting down on top of her. Olivia moved down willingly and moved her body on the bed, so she was fully on the bed and his body covered hers.

"I feel you don't need any more warming up," she said as his erection pressed down on her thigh and his lips moved to her neck.

He moved one hand down her body to check her readiness, but to his surprise she was not wet yet. "But you miss Benson need to get into the zone," he was mischievous.

Olivia didn't get a word out, because he was sucking on her neck and rolling his tongue over her skin, while his one hand caressed her breast. She closed her eyes deeply, her hands on his back, occasionally cupping his bottom cheeks and digging her heels into his skin. With his body moving on top of hers, his erection pressed occasionally against her opening.

As he worked her body like only he knew how, she was anticipating the moment, when their bodies would unite.

"Elliot," she whispered and licked her lips.

"Mmm," he mumbled.

"I love your foreplay, but how about we do the deed," she requested, "I know you want this by the way your member is acting."

"Yes please," he agreed.

Elliot moved himself over her, took her head between his hands as he supported his weight on his elbows, gave her a quick smile and kissed her. She grabbed a hold of his member and guided it to her opening, when he took the lead and pushed himself inside of her.

He moved slowly at first, but after she wrapped her legs around his middle, he fastened his pace, which she met with every thrust. She pressed her nails into his skin on his back and threw her head back on the pillow.

As he trusted into her, he suddenly grunted and slipped on top of her – his supporting hand had buckled and gave in under his weight. His movements stilled and she took deep breaths to contain herself.

"El, are you okay?" she asked, her breathing still ragged.

"Yeah, I'm good," he replied and tried to get back at thrusting inside her, but Olivia made a decision and rolled them over.

"You are not okay and I should have thought about it before," she said calmly.

"Liv…" he started to protest, but she put her finger over his lips. "From now on, I'm gonna be on top until your hand is fine and we can discuss the matter further," she decided.

She could sense his bruised ego, but he decided not to protest, besides he loved her on top, so he nod and buckled his hips.

Olivia took the hint, positioned herself so she was comfortable and started moving, soon reaching the familiar pace. She leaned on top of him, so they were chest to chest, grabbed the bedsheet on both sides of his head and let her knees fall onto the bed on both sides, but she curled her toes between his calves. He simply wrapped his arms around her middle and let her control the lovemaking, though her movements were met by his hips.

"Liv, I'm close," he panted as he felt his orgasm nearing and he couldn't hold it back anymore.

She nod on top of him and made a few faster movement, which he met, pushing his member as deep inside of her as he could before he finally let go and screamed her name much louder than he planned, but his ears were ringing and he really didn't care.

Elliot barely registered her calling out his name moments later and the way she arched her back on top of her, followed by shivers going all around her body. He felt her collapsing on top of him and her hands finally releasing the bedsheet, and instead ending up cupping his head.

Her wet hair was sprawled out on his chest, but the now cold hair from her hair was welcoming to cool down his skin. Both of them stayed there without making any movements and used the time to come down from the high.

"That was amazing," he complimented.

"And I am so tired," she said with a yawn.

He smiled and looked for the duvet to pull over them. Since they had usually rather hectic mornings, they had given up making the bed some time ago, so he could use his legs and hands to pull the cover on top of them from the foot of the bed.

Olivia shifted, pulled him out and rolled to his side, which caused Elliot groan just like he always did at the same movement. She set the alarm and closed her eyes.

He didn't protest to her rolling away, because he was still too hot and needed to cool down, but even with her not wrapped around him, she could feel her there as her back was in contact with his left hand, which was unusual since she usually slept on his right side or partially on top of him.

"Good night," she mumbled.

"You didn't give me my goodnight kiss," he pouted.

Olivia rolled her eyes against the pillow, but she rolled herself around, leaned on her elbow and dropped a lazy kiss on his lips.

"Good night, darling," she mocked and rolled herself over again.

"Sleep well, dear," he replied.

Elliot too shifted himself and turned to his side, and wrapped his injured hand loosely around her. There he met with unforeseen problem, which was her wet hair all over the pillow. Elliot grunted and tried to move her hair away from his face, away from the pillow, but he didn't succeed. Instead the more he tried to move her hair to the side, the more it seemed to be stubbornly back in his face. Elliot even had to blow them away so they wouldn't be in his mouth and nostrils. The movements obviously upset the woman trying to sleep beside him, who was also a proud owner of that annoying hair.

"Would you stop it please, I'm trying to sleep," sleepy Olivia whined.

"I'm trying too, but your hair is everywhere, can't you control it or something," he voiced his frustration.

"You claimed to like them some time ago," she snapped.

Elliot made some noise. "I do like them, just not when they're in my mouth," he explained.

Olivia replied something inaudible.

"Could you just roll around, so we could both spend a nice night," he asked.

"You don't have to have your hands on me every moment, just roll over yourself," she snapped nack.

"Liv," he whined, but she didn't budge.

As he really didn't like her hair all over his mouth, Elliot gave up and rolled back to his back. It didn't take long before Olivia grunted loudly and turned herself around, scooted closer to Elliot and placed her head on his chest, her hand on his abdomen and legs intertwined with his.

Elliot had a smile on his face, but he chose not to comment anything in case she gets pissed or something. Instead he made himself comfortable, pulled her slightly closer and wrapped his arms around her as he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to claim him.

***SVU***

Elliot dialed Casey's number angrily and looked at his watch 6 pm. Olivia promised to get home at decent hour and Cragen had agreed to give her some days off since she had been working hard on the case and she got poisoned while doing so.

Casey picked up on 4th ring.

"Novak," she answered.

"It's Elliot. How did it go today?" he asked without any further introduction.

"Great. Everything went according to plan, but didn't Olivia already tell you that?" Casey said briefly.

"She hasn't come home yet and I keep getting her voicemail," Elliot complained.

"Oh, we were done after lunch. Perhaps Cragen is making her do some paperwork," Casey suggested.

"Probably," he mumbled, "Thanks anyway."

"No problem," Casey replied and ended the call.

Elliot stared at the clock on the wall and stood in place for a long moment. Then he looked at his dinner, which had gotten cold by the time he spent waiting for her, though he made rice with chicken which can be warmed up quickly.

He gave up and grabbed his jacket, turned off the lights and left her apartment. He got down, sat into his car and drove to the precinct. Some officers greeted him as he entered the building and took the elevator to his usual floor.

He walked through the familiar doors and instantly spotted Olivia sitting behind her desk.

"Hey stranger," he greeted her.

"El," she said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Elliot tilted his head and opened his mouth to reply, but Cragen stopped him and caught his attention.

"Stabler. I thought I ordered you home until next week?" he said as he approached, clearly not happy seeing his detective here.

"I'm here to work, I'm here on personal reasons," he explained and pointed towards Olivia.

"I ordered you home too," Cragen snapped at Olivia.

Elliot chucked at the way Olivia looked uncomfortable behind her desk.

"I'm just finishing up the paperwork, I want everything to be in order, when I'm gonna go Jennifer that she doesn't have to worry anymore," Olivia explained.

"Munch will do that," Cragen said, closed the distance between Olivia. He looked down at the papers in front of her, roughly pulled them from her and placed them in front of Munch.

"You just finish whatever Benson started," Cragen instructed his detective.

Munch gave the file a hard look, quickly gazed at Olivia and then Cragen, finally closing the file in front of him. "Seems like Liv was already done with it," he commented and turned his attention back to his computer screen.

"So you can go home. Since you spent your weekend here and you were recently poisoned, take a few days, rest and come back when you're ready and have got rid of those bags underneath your eyes," Cragen told Olivia calmly.

Olivia nod. She had already closed her computer and located necessary items to take home to.

Elliot stood at the edge of her desk and looked really pleased with himself.

"Come on, let's go home," he said.

Olivia put on her coat, went through her pockets to make sure she had everything she needed and got up from her desk.

"Stabler, the next time I see you here will be in a week," Cragen was firm. Elliot gave him a brief nod – he was not planning to come before anyway, unless he needed to bring Olivia home again.

Olivia reached Elliot, he took her hand and they left the bullpen. They reached the elevators and Elliot pressed the button.

"Didn't realize how tired I was before," she said after yawning.

"Good thing I came to get you," he commented.

Olivia agreed. "You know I'm not hiding from you or anything with all of those long shifts," she clarified.

"I know, you're just doing your job," he replied and kissed the side of her head, then continued, "And you are partner down, so it takes you longer than it would with me right beside you."

Olivia mocked a laughter, but didn't say anything.

The elevator arrived and they got inside. Olivia pressed the button and they stood at the back of the elevator. His hands held hers firmly, she leaned onto him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hold on, we'll be home soon. It wouldn't be nice of you to fall asleep in here," he teased.

"I know, I'm just resting my eyes," she excused herself.

"Of course. You know the last time you claimed to be tired and I had to come get you, you gave me quite a night to remember," he smirked.

Olivia hit his side. "In your dreams, Stabler. Today we're just gonna sleep. It depends on how good boy you are what happens tomorrow," she decided.

"I'll be good," he promised.

The elevator door opened and they walked confidently out of the precinct towards his car, which would take them to Olivia's apartment and allow them to enter dreamland, she was so desperately needing.