Elliot arrived 45 minutes early at Olivia's. He wanted plenty of time to try and talk her out of going to work today. He buzzed twice but got no answer. "She must still be asleep." Turning to leave, he figured that it was the perfect way of making her stay home.

He was halfway back to his car when a small corner of his brain spoke up, "She's a cop, she would hear the buzzer if she was just asleep. What if she can't buzz you in?" The voice nagged, "Maybe she's lying on the floor unconscious or maybe she had a reaction to the pain pills?" Elliot hated this voice. It was his worst-case scenario voice, born from years on the force, seeing the worst that people could do. It was what made him call Kathy three times before she would arrive at her parent's house. It was what made him sit up until his daughters returned from their dates even though he had to go to work early in the morning, or sit in his children's room all night when they were ill. Now it was making him return to Olivia's building…just to be sure.

He fished his keys out of his pocket; it was easy to find the right one. It was white with yellow, 70's, smiley faces on it. Elliot laughed when he remembered how that key came to be.

Olivia had called him while he was getting ready for work, asking if he could pick her up a change of clothes because she had been called into work while in the middle of a date.

He had the code to get into the main door of her building, but had to track down the super to get into Liv's apartment. Once he finally found the guy he was met with a brick wall. He reminded Elliot of an English bulldog, with a pitbull disposition. "Didn't she call you and tell you I was coming here?" he snapped.

"I talked to someone about this." He eyed Elliot and his ID suspiciously.

"You have her work number on file, why don't you call her back and confirm this?"

Olivia had been taking quite a bit of harassment about her attire, so she was not in the mood when the super started in about his responsibility for the safety of all the tenants in the building. "Has he showed you his ID?"

"Yes he has, but I…" he was cut off.

"But what? The man is an NYPD detective; I am speaking to you on the phone giving permission for you to let him into my apartment. What is the problem?"

"Well, how do I know that this is legitimate? The badge could be faked. How do I know if you're actually Olivia Benson?"

"What?" She shouted into the phone. "This is absolutely ridiculous. I swear if I have to leave work to straighten this out, someone is going to be sorry, so why don't you just go up to the apartment with him? He is there to pick up a black duffle bag. If he takes anything more than that, call the cops."

"It's against our policy, unless you have something on file with us, but since you're a police officer, I'll do it this once. I'd really suggest that you give someone a key to your place in case anything like this comes up again."

Elliot got the bag and made one last stop before he arrived at work.

"Hey, Liv! Next time I worry about you when some psycho is hunting for you, you know like wanting to walk you up to your apartment and stuff, remind me of this." He laughed dropping the bag on her desk. "But I do like the dress."

"Go to hell, Stabler. Fin, I'm going to fill the Captain in, then I'll change and we can go."

Elliot gave Fin a devilish grin as he lifted a disposable camera out of his pocket while waiting for Olivia to exit Cragen's office.

"Liv!" he shouted, getting her attention so he could shoot the picture. Fin about fell out his chair laughing when Olivia started after Elliot.

"Benson, Fin don't you have some investigating to do?" Cragen hollered from his office door.

Olivia gave Elliot a deadly glare before going to change. When she was far enough away all three men broke into laughter.

"Oh, man, you know you're not going to live out the day, don't you?" Fin swiped at a tear.

"Hey, she's your partner until this case is done, I can dodge her until she calms down."

"Munch is going to be sorry he missed this. He'll never believe it," Fin smiled.

"Yeah, but we have proof." Elliot triumphantly held up the camera.

"Speaking of being sorry, Olivia should be back soon, you might want to make yourself scarce." Cragen warned, "Oh and Elliot?"

"Yeah Cap?"

"I expect a copy of that when you get it developed." Elliot grinned and nodded.

When Fin and Olivia returned later that day she dropped a key off at Stabler's desk. "Just be prepared El, if I have to come in the middle of a date again, I'm calling you right away to bring me clothes, no matter what time it is."

Since there was almost always someone home when he got home, Elliot never noticed that Olivia's key was almost identical to his, but after Kathy and the kids left he would usually spend several minutes fighting with the lock on the door only to realize that he had the wrong key. After a couple of weeks of complaining about it to Olivia, he came to work one morning to find a 'smiley face' key lying on his desk.

"What's this?" he asked.

She simply said. "A key"

"Thanks, smart ass, what is it for?"

"It's a new key to my place, so you'll know which key is which."

Elliot punched in the code for the main doors, then made his way to Olivia's apartment. He knocked on the door before letting himself in. "Liv?" He noticed two things as he entered. The first was that it was very hot; the second was the sound of a hair dryer.

He followed the sound down the short hallway to the bathroom to find the door open. Olivia was standing in front of the mirror, drying her hair, dressed only in dark slacks and a blue bra.

Ordinarily, Elliot would have been embarrassed to catch his partner this way, but he could see the blackening bruise that started between her shoulder blades and extended down to her waist. He also noticed how she would pause every few seconds to cautiously stretch her back. She definitely did not need to go to work today.

"Liv." He moved a little so she could see him in the mirror.

She dropped the hair dryer on the floor. "Jesus Christ, El are you trying to kill me, or is this just for fun?"

"Um…I really didn't…um Liv, can you finish getting dressed before we continue?" he asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable seeing her like that.

"Shit!" She exclaimed pushing the bathroom door closed. She emerged a couple of minutes later. "So why is it that you felt you needed to sneak up on me half an hour before you were supposed to be here?"

"There was no answer so I got worried. It's a sauna in here Liv, what are you doing?"

"I couldn't get warm last night, and quit avoiding the question, why are you here so early?"

"You shouldn't be going to work today," he said matter-of-factly.

Olivia sighed as she sat down to put her shoes on. "The doctor said that if I thought I could handle it, I could go."

"And you feel you can handle it?"

"Yes, Elliot, I do."

"Then, I'm mistaken that you just winced when you reached down to put your shoes on, and that you routinely had to stop every few seconds while drying your hair. Not to mention the fact that it looks like you didn't sleep much last night."

"Just drop it El, I am going today. If I get tired or it bothers me, I will come home early."

"Yeah right." He muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, are you ready? We can pick up something for breakfast on our way."

"I'm not very hungry, you can pick up something if you like."

"Not a chance, remember spoon feeding? Don't think we won't do it."

"Fine, I'll eat. Let's go." She slipped on her coat, grabbed her bag and walked out the door.

Elliot noticed her pain medication on the table next to her couch. He shook his head and put them in his pocket.

Olivia carefully slid into her chair at her desk. Elliot sat a large blueberry muffin in front of her, along with a carton of milk.

"Milk, did you think you were getting breakfast for Dickie or Lizzie?"

"Listen, you're the one who would give me any ideas about what you might like for breakfast."

"I thought coffee was a given."

"I got you coffee too, but only if you're a good little girl and eat all your breakfast."

She narrowed her eyes, "You've been around when I've gone through caffeine withdrawals before, El, are you sure that you're up to it again?"

He pretended to debate the subject for a few minutes. "Stabler, give me my coffee now."

"Hey, man, give the woman her coffee. Getting in between someone and their morning caffeine, now that's just cold." Fin snatched the coffee from Elliot and set it on Olivia's desk, "Good to see you." He gave her a quick hug.

"Hey, Fin, I was holding the coffee for ransom until she eats something."

"She will, won't you Benson?" Olivia nodded smugly. "See, she will, just let her breathe for a minute."

Before Elliot could add anything, Munch walked in. "Benson, what are you doing here?"

"Uh, same thing you are, working. Actually, you never really work do you Munch?"

"Ha, ha, very funny. Don't you think it is a little early for you to be back to work?"

"I agree." Captain Cragen said as he wandered out of his office.

"The doctor told me I could go back to work, actually to desk duty, whenever I felt well enough. I have documentation if you need it."

"I read it. Elliot dropped it off last night, after he dropped you off." Cragen held up some photocopied pages.

Olivia's patience began wearing a little thin; "And so the problem is what? I'm at my desk, aren't I?" Elliot received another glare from his partner.

"Um, nothing is wrong, I just need to talk to you for a few minutes." Cragen was a little taken aback by her outburst.

Olivia could not hide her irritation as she stood up hastily. "Dammit." She cursed under her breath, while she clutched her desk for balance. She quickly let go, hoping nobody had noticed.

"Man, she doesn't look good," Fin sighed.

Elliot was astounded. "Wasn't it just you who told me to back off, that she could take care of herself?"

"Yeah, in front of her. Besides I think it's better that she's here, rather than alone in her apartment. At least here, we can get her food when we get ours, make sure she's not doing anything that she's not supposed to, and she won't think we're babying her."

Elliot grinned. "I'm impressed. That is a lot easier than fighting with her, and you don't piss her off."

Cragen drew in a deep breath before beginning his speech, "Look Olivia, I know how it pisses you off when you think that we are treating you differently, but it's not because you're a woman. We're just worried about you."

"Captain I appreciate…"

He silenced her with a wave of his hand. "Let me finish. We, including you, would act the same way if it were Elliot, Fin or Munch who received a significant injury only two days ago."

"Don, it was not that serious of an injury. I fell off of a step stool." She suddenly realized that her head was pounding.

"Onto a cement floor, loosing consciousness I might add, that is serious Olivia. And from what Elliot told me about the bruise on your back, it's no little thing either."

"Elliot exaggerates. It's just a bruise. No big deal."

"Then show it to me."

"What?"

"I want to judge for myself."

Olivia laughed nervously, "Aren't there rules about this?"

Cragen raised his eyebrows. He was in no mood for joking right now. "Olivia…"

Deciding it was best not to push him, she stood up and turned around. Don noticed she was having trouble getting her arms around so he lifted up the back of her shirt for her. "God Olivia, that's not just a bruise."

"Are you sending me home?" she asked pulling her shirt back down.

"No, I'm not going to send you home, but you are going to take some sack time today."

His thoughts were similar to Fin's; 'I won't worry about her if she's right here.'

There was a loud knock at the door. Elliot poked his head in. "Just got a call from Mercy Hospital saying they have a rape victim, Fin and Munch went to check it out."

"Thanks." Cragen turned back to Olivia, "Do you have any pain medication with you?"

"You know, I think I forgot it at home today, but I'll be fine."

"Oh, no you didn't, Liv, I grabbed it for you." Elliot produced the bottle from his suit pocket.

Cragen smiled. "Well then I guess you're both dismissed."

"Aren't you Mr. Efficiency today." Olivia snarled.

"That's just the kind of guy I am," he said, undaunted.

Olivia spent the next hour trudging through paperwork, and trading occasional jab with Elliot. He was glad to see her mood lighten a little, but he noticed her stopping more often to massage her temples. He was about to suggest she take a pain pill when she got up and left the room. A few minutes later she came back with a bottle of water and reached for the medication.

Elliot kept his head down and pretended not to notice.

"Hey, El?" she asked, "Is it cold in here to you?"

He looked up from his paperwork. "No, not at all, are you cold?"

"I have been since this stupid accident. I just can't seem to get warm."

"You know, I think I heard once that it's not uncommon for a person to feel cold when they're injured."

"Who's cold?" Munch came in shaking snow off his hat.

"Me! It's freezing outside and it's snowing like hell!" Fin griped.

"No, who's cold in here?" Munch smacked Fin's shoulder.

"Liv is cold."

"Well, Benson, maybe we should set you outside for a while and then you'd appreciate how nice and warm it is in here," he said getting her back for her earlier comment.

She laughed at his comment, but Munch saw a flash of grief in her eyes.

"What was that?" he questioned, suddenly feeling guilty. "Seriously though, can I get you some tea?"

"Sure John, thanks." She wondered what brought on the sudden change. She gratefully wrapped her cold hands around the cup for a little while before returning to her paper work. The room grew quiet as everyone else did the same.

A half an hour later, Elliot felt an eraser hit his head. He spun around in his chair facing his two prime suspects. They both pointed at Olivia. Elliot turned back around to see her facing her computer screen, head up, hand on the mouse, eyes closed.

Cragen had also seen her from his office. He walked over to her desk and gently shook her shoulder. Olivia opened her eyes to see Cragen standing there. Without argument she got up and went to the crib.

It was one o'clock when Munch yawned and stretched. "Anybody else here getting hungry?"

"Lunch sounds good, who's running?" Elliot nibbled on his pen.

"Not me, you guys looked out the window lately?" Fin mumbled.

"How about we order delivery?" Munch grabbed several menus out of his desk drawer. "Anybody up for Chinese?"

"Were you not out with me earlier? It's cold. Anything you order is probably going to be cold when it gets here, and Chinese doesn't nuke well."

"Fin's right, John. How about that sandwich shop a few blocks away, don't they deliver? Soup is easy to reheat."

"Sounds good to me, write down all your orders and I'll call," John agreed.

Fin turned in his order, and then went to get Cragen's while Elliot wrote down his.

Munch started to dial when Fin stopped him. "Shouldn't we get something for Olivia?"

"Thanks for reminding me." Elliot wrote down a turkey sandwich and soup on a slip of paper and handed it to John.

"Hey guys, how are you?" George Huang entered the bullpen.

"Hey Doc, what brings you here?" Elliot inquired.

"I was just talking to Casey about my testimony on an upcoming trial when she told me the Olivia was in the hospital, so I thought I'd find out what happened and which hospital she was at. Casey couldn't remember."

"Well actually you can speak to her in just a few minutes when I wake her up for lunch." Elliot informed him.

"She's here? Was Casey mistaken?"

"No, Olivia was trying to get a young girl to come down off of a cabinet two days ago. She almost had the girl down when a stupid ass uniform grabbed for the girl. Liv was standing on a step stool and got knocked off balance. She fell hitting her head on the basement floor. She suffered a concussion and a contusion to her back. The doctor also said she was dehydrated, her iron and potassium were low and she showed signs of exhaustion. They made her stay through most of the following day before sending her home last night."

"And now she's here? Does her doctor know?"

"We've come to the conclusion that the guy was a quack," offered Munch. "He told her she could return to work on desk duty, 'when she felt well enough.'"

"He's obviously never dealt with SVU cops before." Huang laughed.

"Who's never dealt with SVU cops before?" Cragen joined the conversation.

"Benson's doctor," Fin offered.

Cragen was puzzled. "What do you mean 'He's obviously never dealt with SVU Cops before?'"

"Unless you guys are made to rest, then you probably wouldn't even slow down for your own funerals." George figured it had to do with the horrors that they witnessed everyday. They kept busy to chase away the demons. They had to keep going, getting just one more predator off the streets. Driving yourselfthemselves into the ground was the only way, they seemed to feel to accomplish this. They all did it, including Cragen, but Olivia was the worst. She drove herself harder because she was the only woman in the main squad, feeling like she had more to prove. At least that is what he thought.

"Very funny Doc. I'm going to go get Liv. Lunch should be here any minute." Elliot climbed the stairs to the crib. When he walked in to wake her up all he could see was an unmade cot and her boots under the bed. "Liv? Liv? Where are you?" He decided to check the women's restroom near the crib. Knocking loudly he hollered, "Liv, are you in there?" A woman exited the bathroom and told Elliot she was the only one in there.

He opened several doors down the hallway, but there was no sign of his partner. "Where the hell could she be?" He went back to the top of the stairs overlooking the bullpen. "Hey, anybody see Benson down there?"

"Isn't she supposed to be up there sleeping?" asked Munch.

"She's not here, I've checked in all the rooms."

"I'll check the ladies room, but I think we would have noticed if she came down here," Fin said.

Cragen was already standing next to Elliot at the top of the stairs, Huang followed closely behind. The three split up and researched the rooms. George found himself standing in the back stairwell, and, on a hunch, he climbed up a little ways, noticing the door to the roof was not closed all the way. "Don, Elliot, I think I found her." By this time Fin and Munch had joined them upstairs.

"Spread out and look." Cragen yelled above the wind. He walked around the backside of the roof entrance. There he found Olivia, huddled up against the wall with her knees drawn to her chest. Her hair, shoulders and feet were covered in snow.

"I found her!" The others came running over.

"Come on Olivia, we need to get you back inside." Cragen tried to help her stand, but she pushed him away.

"No, I have to stay here."

"Liv, you have to come in, it's too cold for you to stay out here like this." Elliot tried to help her, but he was also pushed away.

"No, now go away before I get in trouble."

Elliot tried reaching for her again, but was halted by Dr. Huang. "She's not awake."

"She needs to be taken in, who knows how long she's been out here." Cragen protested.

Huang turned back to Olivia, "Why do you have to stay out here?"

"My mom said I had to stay out here until I learn to appreciate what I have." Cragen, Fin and Stabler turned and looked at John. He felt like he had been kicked in the stomach.

"Well I just talked to your mother and she sent me to bring you in. She said you've learned your lesson."

"Are you sure? That doesn't sound like my mom. She was really mad when she put me out here."

"I promise, if you come in now, everything will be okay." George took her hand and helped her up. This time she went willingly.

When they got her back down to the crib, Elliot tucked her back into bed, "You need some sleep," he ordered. She laid her head on the pillow and immediately fell asleep.

"Um, Elliot," George began, "as Don pointed out, we have no idea how long she was out there and her clothes are soaked from sitting out in the snow. She needs to get out of those wet clothes, so unless one of you are willing to change her clothes for her…"

The men stared at each other for a second. Elliot shook her, "Liv you need to wake up."

"What? What's the matter?" She asked sitting up. She ran her hand through her hair. "Why am I all wet?" She looked at the group of men standing there.

"You were apparently sleep walking and ended up on the roof. You need to go change out of those wet clothes before you succumb to hypothermia," George explained.

"Okay." Olivia was still not quite sure what was going on, but left to go change.

"Should we send her to take a hot shower?" Elliot was heading back down stairs with the others.

"No, warming her up too fast could cause her heart to stop."

"I'm going to get her a warm shirt and tell her not to get into the shower."

Dr. Huang followed Cragen into his office. "Something I can do for you Doc?"

George settled himself into a chair; "You didn't seem very surprised when Olivia said her mother put her out in the cold. You know in all likelihood, she was reliving an incident from her past. I know her relationship with her mother was rocky, but I didn't suspect this."

Cragen look sadly at the other man. "A couple of days ago, I would have been surprised, but I today I can say that her mother probably did lock her outside during winter."

"What changed?"

"I have been thinking of calling you about this, but I wasn't exactly comfortable with the way I came to have this information."

"Does this have to do with the Eldridge case? Olivia spoke to me a little about it."

"Partly, you know, she got Casey to plead it out."

"Yeah, but neither has said why."

"I don't know either, Olivia told me she had a very good reason behind it. The look on her face…I didn't pursue it any further. But I think that this last case may have come too soon after the Eldridge one. It's so similar. A young girl conceived by a rape, an abusive alcoholic mother. The little girl dropped mom's liquor bottle, Mom snatched it up and took off after the little girl with it."

"What did you find out?"

"When Olivia was in the hospital, I stayed overnight. She had nightmares all night long. She kept apologizing for speaking to a couple named the Nelsons and pleading not to be hurt anymore. Elliot said the bad dreams continued the next day when she'd fall asleep. This time she was cold."

"Like she was being kept outside."

"Yeah, I'm a little worried. She was already exhausted at the start of this, and from the way she looked this morning, she didn't sleep much last night."

"Well that ties in with the sleep walking. Excessive fatigue and high stress, a traumatic event are all triggers. She probably was a sleepwalker when she was young. I can try and talk to her if you like, but if she's not willing to open up to me I can't force her on this."

"I know, but I'd appreciate it if you'd try."

Olivia was sitting at her desk picking at a sandwich when Huang went up to her. "Hey, Liv, do you have a second?"

She eyed him suspiciously but followed him into the interview room.

"How are you feeling?" he began.

"A side from feeling a little stupid, I'm okay, why?"

"We don't know how long you were outside or how low your body temperature got."

"I think everything is okay. I'm regaining feeling in my feet and hands. I'm still cold, but Elliot gave me a sweatshirt to wear and I ate some hot soup and drank some more tea."

"That's good. Did you sleep walk as a child?"

"Sometimes. The neighbors would find me and bring me back to the apartment."

George's expression suddenly became very serious. "When you were on the roof, you refused to come back in. You said your mother had put you out there to teach you a lesson. Did things like that happen often?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she hastily stood up. "I really need to get back to work. Thanks for checking up on me."

George gathered his things and walked to the bullpen to say his goodbyes. Cragen was leaning over Fin's computer monitor when he looked up expectantly. He let out a sigh when the doctor shook his head negatively.

Olivia wouldn't even look at anybody when she came back in the room. Cragen walked slowly back to his office. He was really beginning to worry.