Chapter 3

Olivia and Elliot got back to the station quickly. They spent at least eight hours going through papers and notes trying to make sense of them and connect them to the case. They still had three more boxes to go. Like Elliot, Olivia had cleared off most the stuff on her desk, and they spread the papers all over. They'd find bits and pieces of what looked like something they could use, but it always led to a dead-end.

Cragen came out of his office, ready to head home. "Why don't you two get out of here?" he suggested.

Olivia looked at Elliot then turned back to Cragen. "I want to finish this."

"Yeah, me too," Elliot agreed.

Cragen sighed. He was glad his detectives worked hard, but sometimes they worked too hard. "Promise me you two will take at least a two hour break, and a nap," he pleaded. When he got a nod from both of them, he said, "Okay. I'm gone. Night."

Another hour passed, though by now, if asked, neither could have said what the time was. Olivia leaned back in her chair and yawned widely. She rubbed her eyes and sniffled a few times as Elliot leaned back in his chair, too. Everyone was gone and the darkness of the squad room only made things worse. Luckily they had set up some bright lights around their desks.

Olivia yawned again as she spoke, "Want some coffee?"

Elliot paused for a second then shook his head. "No. Why don't you go take a nap? I'll work on this and after you get rested we'll switch," he suggested.

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, go on." He looked back down to the papers in front of him, and sat at the edge of his seat. Olivia watched him a minute, trying to figure out if she wanted to work more or take a nap. It was the tiredness in his eyes that finally made her say, "Come on, El." She stood up and gestured towards the crib with her chin. "We promised Cragen we'd take at least a two hour break and a nap" She turned off one of the lights. As she headed over to another light, she pretended to be stern. "And I won't be able to sleep if I know you're up working," she pointed at him as she turned off the light with her other hand.

He showed her a small smile and got up to turn off the third light. There was still enough light to see, but they made their way carefully. Walking with eyes heavy with sleep, they made it to the bunk room and Elliot closed the door behind them. There were other detectives in the room, more than usual. It had been a long night for many on the force. Olivia crawled onto one of the beds and lay on her side.

Elliot was going to go to the bunk above her, but before he did, she grabbed his wrist gently. "Save that bed for another officer," she told him and he nodded.

He lay down next to her, and as he did she turned on to her other side to face him. She closed her eyes and was asleep quickly. A thought about Kathy and the kids crossed his mind, but he was too tired to do anything about it now. Grabbing a blanket and pulling it over Olivia, he closed his eyes, falling asleep on his back. After she knew he was asleep, she smiled softly and pulled half the blanket over to him, then leaned close.

"Get some rest, El," she whispered before turning on her other side and falling back to sleep.

"Detectives!" Cragen called in mother-like voice, as he opened the door to the bunk room. "Rise and shine," he smiled as Olivia opened her eyes.

She squinted at the light that shone into the room. Cragen closed the door behind him as Olivia sat up. Raising a hand to her hair, she could only imagine what she looked like. Her clothes were crinkled as if she had tossed and turned all night, but she could tell by the way she felt that she hadn't. The beds in the crib would never win awards for comfort, but she felt more rested than she had in a long time. And it seemed as though she wasn't the only one. Elliot was still sleeping next to her.

"Hey, El," she shook him gently, trying to wake him.

"Huh?" he squinted.

"Yeah, that was exactly my first reaction," she smiled as he started to wake up.

"Nice hair," he said as he sat up.

"You, too," she grinned and with a dopy face expression, he grinned back.

"Here, you got something on you," he said as he rubbed his thumb against her cheek to wipe off the mark.

"Thanks" she smiled as she got off of the bed. They both stood and stretched, backs and necks creaking and popping.

"What time is it?" Elliot asked as Olivia tried to clear her blurry eyes.

"Nine." He looked just as surprised as she had been. "I know," she said at his unspoken words.

"Ladies first." He gestured to the door.

She smiled but stopped before she opened the door. "Elliot?"

"Yeah?"

Olivia paused, almost nervous to speak. "About Kathleen... you need to give her space as much as attention… as much as she needs. The trick is trying to find how much attention and how much space you should give her. That make sense?"

Elliot nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, it does. Thanks, Liv." Nudging her with his shoulder, and his nice smile, he asked, "Where would I be without you?"

She nudged him back and joked, "Nowhere."

He paused in the doorway with a frown, where would he be? Then snapped out of it and went to catch up.

"Goooood mornin'!" Munch smiled sarcastically as Olivia and Elliot walked to their desks.

"Well at least you're awake," Elliot muttered.

"And lovin' life," Munch leaned back comfortably in his chair.

"Oh, shut up," Olivia grumbled and Elliot laughed.

Cragen walked over to the group of detectives. "Okay. Today, Munch, Fin you two will finish these three boxes; Olivia and Elliot, you two are going to go chat with Marsha Langsam."

Getting their orders, the group quickly split up.

"I didn't call Kathy last night," Elliot said as they drove to Marsha's apartment. Olivia looked at him a little surprised, not knowing he had something on his mind.

"Well, I'm sure she knows she can't always hear from you- that your job is busy and time consuming," she suggested.

Elliot sighed. "Yeah, she knows all that…"

Olivia waited for him to say something else but when he didn't, she asked, "So… what's bothering you?"

He took in a deep breath and scratched just above his eyebrow before continuing. "She didn't call me. In the past, whenever she didn't hear from me, she'd call."

Olivia frowned, wondering where this was going. "Well, maybe she had a long day at work and was just as tired as you were last night," she made another suggestion.

Elliot shook his head, "No. She didn't call because she doesn't know how."

Her frown only deepened. "What do you mean?"

"Never mind," Elliot said abruptly.

Concerned, Olivia tilted her head and promised, "Elliot, you can tell me, I'm here to listen."

He turned to look at her and watched her as she waited for him to say something, anything. Somehow, at that moment, she looked different. He noticed her skin and her eyes, but it was her lips that held his gaze. He felt himself starring… he was still staring when a car horn startled them both, and before he could really think about what he was feeling, he turned away. He drove on, his eyes straight ahead, looking at anything but her.

They arrived at Marsha's apartment and she greeted them solemnly. Elliot shook her hand, "We're sorry for your losses."

Marsha nodded and quietly responded, "Thank you."

Olivia closed the door behind her then sat next to Elliot on the couch, while Marsha sat in a chair facing them.

"We need to ask you a few questions," Olivia began as she pulled out her note pad. Marsha nodded, taking a tissue box off the side table and putting it on her lap.

"How did you know the two other couples?" Olivia asked, her pen ready at hand. Marsha took in a few deep breaths in an effort to steady her shaky voice, when Elliot's phone rang.

"Excuse me," he apologized, getting up and moving near the front door.

Olivia put her hand on Marsha's knee, "It's okay, take your time." Marsha sniffled into her Kleenex. Olivia turned around to see if everything was okay with Elliot and he motioned for her to come over. She left Marsha after a hesitation, then stood beside Elliot. "What's going on?" she asked quietly.

"Kathleen's school. She's in the office for something or other…" Elliot shook his head.

Olivia could tell he wasn't ready to deal with Kathleen, "Why don't you let me go? You stay here, take your time with Marsha, and I'll straighten out what's going on at Kathleen's school," Olivia suggested.

It was definitely a relief, but he didn't want Olivia to do anything she didn't want to. "You don't mind?"

She put her hand on his cheek and smiled. "Consider it done." She turned to leave the apartment, and as her hand slid off his cheek he grabbed her wrist as she had done to him the night before. She turned around and waited for him to say something. He stared at her for a second.

"Thank you," he said simply, but Olivia could feel it was from the heart. Squeezing her wrist one last time, he smiled and let her go.

TBC