Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU. It belongs to a genius named Dick Wolf. No profit is being made from this story.

Author's Note: I thought I was pretty clear in my intentions by now, but I seem to be getting new readers with every story…let me just say loud and clear that this IS NOT and WILL NOT BECOME an E/O story. Furthermore, there is also no chance of any of my stories involving a romance between ANY characters. If that turns anyone off to my writing, I apologize.

The three detectives looked shocked. Don waited for someone to start the introductions, but no one said anything. Shooting them a mutinous look, he gestured to each one in turn.

"Detectives John Munch, Odafin Tutuola, Olivia Benson….and obviously you know Elliot," he said.

Sean smirked. "Obviously," he repeated. "Nice to meet everyone."

Still no one spoke. Looking decidedly uncomfortable, the agent turned to Cragen. "Captain, a moment of your time?" he asked. "I've got some information we need to discuss about this case."

"Sure," he agreed. "Come on to my office."

As he passed, Sean slapped Elliot lightly on the shoulder. "How ya doing, Medic?" he smirked. Elliot's response was a vicious stare.

Cragen glared at them as he passed. "I'll deal with you later," he muttered angrily, glancing briefly at each detective. They went into his office and shut the door.

Once they disappeared, the three looked at Elliot. He glared back at them quickly, and they could tell he was pissed. Munch and Fin, after a brief glance at each other, decided not to risk setting him off and opted not to say anything as they went quietly back to their desks.

Olivia followed Elliot back to theirs and decided to take a chance.

"So, um…." she began, and hesitated. Elliot realized then that he probably looked like he wanted to bitch slap someone, and made an effort to relax. He turned to face her, giving her his attention with raised eyebrows.

She accepted his white flag and smiled. "Medic?" she questioned, raising her own eyebrows in amusement.

He rolled his eyes. God, he could kill Sean. "My middle name is Matthew," he said wryly, as if that answer was the solution to every question known to man.

She looked at him blankly, not getting the point.

"Elliot Matthew Stabler….," he elaborated. She still didn't get it, and he rolled his eyes in irritation. "E.M.S.? Paramedic?"

"Ohhh," she said as it dawned on her what he was saying.

He rolled his eyes again. "What can I say?" he said, shrugging. "My parents are cruel."

Olivia smiled, and he returned it. "I mean," he went on. "They couldn't even give him a crappy middle name like Otis or something, so I could call him S.O.S."

She laughed this time.

"He's called me that since I was seven…you'd think after so long a person would get a hobby or something."

"Who's older?" Munch asked.

Elliot turned toward him. "Age wise?" he asked. Munch shrugged. "He is…he's six years older." His face twisted into a scowl suddenly. "Maturity wise….now that's debatable."

"Alright, sounds good." The captain's voice floated out into the room as he opened the door. He and Sean came back out to join them.

"Listen up," Cragen said to them. "I realize this is going a bit fast, but we have no choice but to jump in headfirst. Time is too precious a commodity to be wasted." He glanced briefly at the detectives before gesturing the agent to take the lead.

"What we're looking at is a ticking time bomb," Sean said. "Our team in Jersey has been getting their asses kicked for two months by this psycho….the closer we think we are to him, the further away he really is."

He crossed his arms and shifted his weight as he continued. "The fires started out low-key…..small things, like a shed behind an auto parts store. The first week had at best three fires, but they were all sporadic and none were near any places of residence. Nothing to draw any attention besides that of the local fire department."

Olivia was watching the man as he was speaking. She had known by the name that he was one of Elliot's brothers, but had, quite frankly, been surprised when she saw him. They didn't look anything alike….not even a little.

Elliot's features made heads turn. His eyes had a way of drawing a person in and holding them captive. They were so intense and expressive that even the most preoccupied person had to look twice…she knew this because she had seen it firsthand on many occasions. Not to mention that they were such a beautiful blue that Olivia seriously considered patenting a Crayola crayon after them.

His facial structure was strong and yet so hauntingly fragile that it seemed almost like a work of art; his smile, when fully exposed, was so gorgeous that it made her green with envy. She was surprised traffic didn't stop when he walked outside. It made her sick sometimes to see how little he seemed to notice just how good-looking he really was.

Sean Stabler, however, she wouldn't have been able to pick from a crowd. His sand-colored hair was somewhat unkempt and stuck up in some places. She had assumed that the eyes would be a family trait, so was startled when she saw that his were light brown. His face was more round, and full of freckles. He was stockier than Elliot, but every bit as tall. That and the way the both stood with proud, firm postures were the only things they had similar.

She shook herself as she realized she wasn't paying any attention to what he was saying, and hoped her eyes hadn't given away that she had been zoning out.

"Over the course of the next two days, there were five more fires, each set at the same time," Sean was saying. "It was then that we began to realize this wasn't just a coincidence. The fire department contacted Chief Hammond and asked for his assistance, believing we may be looking at arson."

He looked at them solemnly. "Around the time we began to realize they may have been right, things began getting ugly. Before we knew it, six more fires had been set, and had escalated…they were now moving to retail stores with people inside."

Cragen looked at him grimly. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Not hurt," he said roughly. "Killed….that was his goal all along."

Elliot looked at him with contempt in his expression, and it reflected in his voice when he spoke. "How do you know that?"

None of them missed the way Sean's demeanor changed when he addressed his brother. His face twisted slightly into a defensive glare. "All of the emergency exits had chicken wire wrapped around the handles so that they couldn't be opened without cutting it," he said snidely. "Sounds pretty obvious to me."

Elliot just scoffed and leaned back in his chair, his expression saying clearly that he didn't give a shit what Sean thought.

Cragen was quick to draw the conversation back to focus. "So, when did your undercover cop get involved?"

"The last fire set in Jersey was a motel that was pretty much famous for its hourly customers, if you catch my drift," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Olivia almost smirked and caught herself just in time. That cocky one-eyebrow thing...she could easily remember images of Elliot doing the same with his own dark eyebrows. If that wasn't a dead giveaway of a Stabler, she didn't know what was.

"When the guy got to New York, the first fires he set were in the same places….hotels and motels around known areas of prostitution," Sean said. "Guess he figured nobody would miss working girls."

"But there had to be other people in those places that weren't prostitutes," Elliot argued. "The last time I checked, maids and desk clerks didn't get their paychecks on the street corner."

Another smoldering glare was shot in his direction before Sean quickly looked back at the others. "We decided to take a chance…we didn't know where he would strike next, so we sent five female agents undercover on street corners near where the last hotel was burned."

He went quiet suddenly. "He set us up," he said softly. "Guy set a fire two blocks from the perimeters where we were positioned…when we went to it, he got to our girl."

There was a minute of tense silence among the detectives and their captain.

"Is it possible that he somehow caught on that he was being watched?" Cragen asked.

"No doubt in my mind," he said. "I don't know how he did it…but he was on to us before we had any idea."

"Then we need to get moving on this right away," Munch said, surprising them. He stood up from his chair. "The longer we sit here, the more innocent people are going to die."

Cragen straightened from where he had been leaning against Elliot's side of the desk. "I agree," he said. "So here's what we're going to do."

He went over to the chalkboard. "Agent Stabler has contacted three local fire and rescue teams and asked them to put together a 24-hour emergency crew to stand on call at any time," he said. He drew a sloppy circle and put an X in the middle. "They're going to be at station number 15 on the west side of the Manhattan Bridge."

He then drew a line from the circle and drew a box. "This is the location of the latest fire," he said, writing the name of the hotel under it. "And this…" He drew another line and another circle. "is the street corner where we found our victim."

Turning, he faced his team. "We're going to set up surveillance teams between here…" He indicated the area between the firehouse and the hotel, "and here," he said, pointing to the area between the hotel and the street corner.

He could tell by the look on Elliot's face that he was dying to say something, so Don continued quickly so he wouldn't have a chance.

"This is just so we can get a feel for it," he said. "The actuality of this guy coming to the same area when he knows he has cops already on to him is pretty slim"

"So when are we going out there?" Fin asked.

"Tomorrow night," Sean was quick to say. "Our guy is somewhat of a night owl."

"I'm going to spend the rest of tonight and tomorrow dividing everyone into teams," Don said. "But, Olivia- plan on working with Munch and Fin for this. Sean and Elliot, you'll be our lead team."

He saw the scowl that crossed Elliot's face. "Alright, everyone?" he questioned. "Any questions?"

No one responded in the affirmative. Cragen nodded. "Then you are officially off for the rest of the night."

Fin's eyebrows shot up. "Sweet!" he said.

As they were getting up, Don turned to Sean. "Have you got a place to stay?"

"Yeah," he answered. "I'm staying at the Hilton in east Chelsea…hey, would it be alright if I went ahead and left this stuff here, since we're going to be here tomorrow anyway?" He indicated the full messenger bag on his shoulder.

"Oh, sure," Don said quickly. "You can use my office if you-"

"Nah, that's alright," Sean cut him off. He turned toward Elliot. "You won't mind if I use your locker while I'm here, will you?"

Before he replied, Sean was already walking over to it. Elliot threw a disbelieving look at Olivia. "Actually," he began, his voice bitter. "I-"

He cut himself off as he watched his brother spin the combination lock and snap it open. His eyes widened quickly. "How the hell-?" he began sputtering.

Sean threw him a supercilious look. "Please, Elliot," he said arrogantly. "Do you honestly think I wouldn't know what your locker combination is? You're so freaking predictable it's pathetic."

That did it. Elliot flung himself out of the chair, and Olivia saw the lightning flash in his eyes. "You know what, Sean-" he began angrily.

"Elliot," Don interrupted quickly. "Let me see you in my office. Everyone else, get out of here. Now."

Olivia shot him a sympathetic look as she was walking out the door, and gestured that she would call him later. He nodded before turning toward Cragen's office. He passed his brother and gave him a cold stare. Sean ignored it as he left.

As soon as the door was shut, Elliot exploded.

"Sir, how could you let them do this?" he said, infuriated. "Who did I piss off? Tell me and I'll go there right now and kiss the feet of whoever the hell it is!"

"Elliot," Don said. "Look, I'm sorry. I know you aren't happy about this…"

"Not happy about this?" Elliot burst out incredulously. "My brother and I haven't spoken in almost three years! He's the biggest dick I've ever met!"

"What the hell would you like me to do, Elliot?" Cragen yelled, losing his patience. "The Chief of ATF called and told me what he was doing and the Commissioner already gave it a thumbs-up. What was I supposed to do? Tell him no?"

"You sure as hell never have a problem saying it to us," Elliot spat out angrily.

As soon as the words left his mouth, his mind caught up. Fuck. He could see Cragen's face turned to pissed off in a matter of seconds. But he was already on a roll, and he couldn't stop. "Come on, Captain. This isn't fair…they totally blindsided me here."

"They blindsided me, too, you know," he snapped. "You think I had this in mind? There are at least fifty cases already being backlogged by the unit, and now we've got to push them even further back to concentrate on this one. Who knows how long this will take?"

"I know that," Elliot said. "But-"

"No!" Cragen growled, cutting him off. "No buts, Elliot! I don't know what the problem is with you two, and frankly, I don't care. You got the assignment… deal with it or turn in your badge. It's your choice."

Elliot was so pissed that he wanted to spit, and kept his teeth tightly clenched to avoid saying what was on his mind at the moment. Telling your boss to fuck off isn't a great way to stay employed.

Glaring angrily at the captain, he turned on his heel without a word and stormed out of the office.

Olivia waited until about a half hour after she was settled in for the night to call Elliot. She was surprised when he didn't answer; she would have expected him to be home by now…it was almost 11:30.

Shrugging, she pulled the comforter down and hopped into bed.

Elliot made it to the Queens exit and nearly dropped the transmission flooring the accelerator. He had been stuck on the interstate for nearly three hours due to an accident in the tunnel, and the need to speed ran through his veins.

He was lucky there were no radar cops out tonight. He made it to his apartment complex in almost triple the time it would have normally taken him

Having no choice but to sit in his truck for three hours made his anger flare more rapidly, but he was forced to let it simmer….what the hell else could he have done? It's not like he could have gotten out and ran laps around a six-lane expressway.

By the time he got home, he was beat. He kicked the apartment door shut behind him and locked it securely, wanting nothing more than to take a long, hot shower and go to sleep.

She was startled when the man they were arresting broke free and began sprinting down the sidewalk. Elliot was tearing after him in a second and she hurried to catch up. By the time she reached him, the man had disappeared around the bend.

The pouring rain was so thick that she couldn't see where she was going. She shivered as she felt herself becoming soaked. Elliot gestured toward the alley ahead, and she nodded. Her heart pounded frantically as she gripped her gun tightly in her hand.

She peered cautiously around the corner of a dumpster before stepping out in front of it. Elliot silently pointed a finger towards the next corner and she nodded. The pair continued creeping quietly through the alley.

Before they knew it, they had reached the end of the alley and had seen no sign of their suspect.

Sighing in disgust, Olivia turned to tell Elliot that they should head back, and was startled to see that he was no longer beside her.

"Elliot?" she called in confusion, turning around quickly. He had completely vanished.

'What the hell?' she thought. 'Where did he go?'

She began walking back towards the direction they had come from, calling her partner's name.

"Olivia," he called, stepping out from behind a dumpster. "See him?"

"No," she answered. "Where could he have gone? It's a dead end."

Elliot began walking toward her, holstering his gun. A sudden blur of movement from behind him caught her attention.

Her eyes widened when she saw the man coming up behind Elliot. He was carrying a blow torch.

"ELLIOT!" she screamed. "LOOK OUT!"

He didn't seem to hear her, because he kept walking toward her. Frantically, she tried to shoot the man, but her gun didn't work anymore. She tried to run to her partner, but her legs wouldn't cooperate.

"ELLIOT!" she screamed desperately. "MOVE!"

The torch ignited, and Olivia watched in horror as Elliot became engulfed in flames. His terrified screams raised the hair on her arms.

"Olivia!" he screamed. "Help me! PLEASE HELP ME!"

She twisted with all her might, trying to move her legs, but they wouldn't budge. Elliot kept screaming, and all she could do was watch as the flames began to burn him alive.

Olivia bolted upright, screaming. For another terrifying moment, she was engulfed in darkness. Then her eyes adjusted, and she realized she was in her bed.

The apartment was quiet. Elliot was sprawled in his bed, fast asleep, when a sudden noise made him jump violently. His eyes flew open and he rolled over, his body tense.

He had always had a secret fear of someone breaking in. Even now, as a cop, the thought terrified him.

He lay rigid, his heart hammering in his ears. Another noise made him jump out of his skin and fumbled for his gun, unhooking the safety. He held it tightly in his hands like it was a life preserver and he was drowning in the Pacific.

You're hearing things, he thought desperately. You're hearing things…

His breathing seemed to echo around the room as he lay tensely, clutching the weapon. When he heard the noise again, he recognized the source. Footsteps.

He heard the hallway carpet groan outside his bedroom door. His gaze fell to the ground, and he saw a shadow moving from the crack under the door.

Oh, fuck…oh, fuck…oh, fuck!

He rolled out of bed. His hands shook so hard that he could hardly aim his gun as he crept towards the door.

The sight of the doorknob slowly turning made his mouth go dry.