Olivia sifted through paperwork for the next two hours, but didn't really get anything done. She couldn't stop thinking about Elliot and that bullshit move he had pulled. She knew she should be grateful, since she had been trying to avoid talking to him. But she was his partner, not John. And history had proven that even when they weren't talking to each other, they could still work together.

Hope you get some rest.

What the hell had that mean? He wasn't buying her story that she was just tired…so that was obviously meant to piss her off.

Olivia let out a sound of frustration. He made her so mad sometimes. It occurred to her, once again, that she was mad that he didn't believe her lie. But damn it. He should believe her if she said that's all it was.

And he should know why she was mad.

She dropped her head in her hands. The man had officially pushed her over the edge.

She hadn't realized how close to the edge she'd been standing.

EOEOEOEO

Munch slid into the passenger seat of the sedan, and Elliot ignored him, hoping to avoid questions. He honestly hadn't planned on leaving Olivia behind. But in that moment, his only thought had been that if she wanted to be left alone…he would leave her alone.

He imagined she was sitting at her desk fuming right now. In a couple of hours, he would probably feel badly about what he had done. But right now, he felt vindicated. He hadn't done anything wrong and she was being difficult. Olivia was meting out punishment when no crime had been committed.

She had been jealous over nothing.

He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she had been jealous. Even though he'd spent the better part of the night thinking about it and what it meant. He only came to one conclusion, and while the thought made him happy, it also pissed him off. If she had feelings for him, then why act so indifferent to him over the years. If she had any inkling of how he felt, how could she keep her mask in place? Keep him mired in uncertainty? And why, when faced with what she viewed as a potential threat, did she choose anger rather than come clean?

God forbid she actually shared something with him. Let her guard down and tell him how she really felt. That's what pissed him off.

If he really wanted to be a son-of-a-bitch, he'd give her something to be jealous about.

Except that he had done the very same thing to her. He'd remained silent too. Which only made him angrier.

Sometimes he couldn't understand how they could work so well together…be perfectly in sync as they worked the most horrific cases…but they couldn't find a rhythm in their personal life? They exposed so much emotion on a day to day basis. Anger…frustration…outrage…sadness…fear. And yet they couldn't even begin to express some of the best life had to offer? Affection…devotion…love.

He told himself that she wouldn't listen to him…or wouldn't believe him. The Olivia he knew would push him away. She would run. Wouldn't let him in.

He wondered how much of that was rationalization. A reason he came up so he didn't have to risk her rejection.

Probably 100%.

Damn it.

EOEOEOEO

Olivia looked down at her phone when she heard it buzzing. She glanced at it, expecting it to be Elliot. But then she saw it was Amy. She answered it after a few rings, and Amy greeted her with her usual enthusiasm.

Olivia wished she could match it.

"Hey." Olivia said in reply.

"How's your day going?"

"Fine." She wasn't going to get into it with her. Amy sounded like a person that had gotten the opportunity to sleep in and would undoubtedly try to talk her into a better mood. Which wasn't going to happen. She decided to pre-empt her questions. "So, what have you been doing all day?"

Olivia barely listened as Amy rattled off a run in Central Park and a visit to a few shops.

"And guess what?" Amy asked. She didn't even wait for Olivia to respond before she rattled on. "Chloe and Jamie are going out with us tonight?"

That got Olivia's attention. "Jamie and Chloe? They still live in the city?" When Amy had mentioned them the night before, she had never asked about them. The conversation had gone in a different direction, and she'd forgotten about them.

"Cripes Benson. You really are out of touch."

Olivia felt a stab of guilt. She really wasn't a very good friend. She had let work consume her life. "Yeah. I guess I am."

"So… Chloe told me about this new club…"

"Oh Ame…hold on. Olivia said, cutting her off. "I don't really think I want to go to a club. That's not really my thing."

"Since when?" Amy asked.

"Since I left college." Olivia said. She had let Amy drag her to all kinds of clubs and concerts and parties in their younger days. And it had been fun, at the time. Nowadays, she just wanted a quiet bar where she could have a beer or two with the guys.

"Exactly. You need to lighten up." Amy said. "Do you even own anything you could wear to a club?"

"We're not going to a club." Olivia repeated.

"It's already planned. Jamie and Chloe are meeting us there at 10."

"10? What are we doing before then?" Olivia asked. She was pretty certain that with the week she'd had, she would be sleeping by 10.

"No wonder you don't have a boyfriend or a life. You're acting like an old woman!" Amy said, completely ignoring her question.

Olivia wanted to retort…and get an answer to her question because she had been serious. But she knew she wasn't going to win this argument/discussion.

"Do you even own anything to wear to a club?" Amy said before she could object again. "If not, you can wear something of mine."

The thought made Olivia want to laugh. Amy was about the same height, but was thin with virtually no hips or ass. They had never been able to share clothes, even in college. "I don't think that's going to be possible." She said. "We're not exactly the same size."

Amy sighed. "Maybe I have something. Let me look. I'm going to run out again and do a little more shopping, so I can pick something up."

"You don't have to do that." Olivia said. "I can find something to wear."

"No offense Olivia. But remember, I looked in your closet last night."

Olivia did remember. Amy had made a comment on the endless hangers of what she called boring work clothes. She had tried to defend your wardrobe by commenting on how many hours she spent at work and that she had to look professional. Plus, she worked with sexual predators; she wasn't about to highlight her feminine attributes, unless it suited the situation. "None taken."

"OK, come to my hotel about 8 and we will all pregame there."

"Pregame?"

"You're hopeless." Amy said with a laugh. "I mean we'll have a few drinks before we go out."

Olivia smiled. Amy's laughter and attitude were slightly infectious. And she had to admit that a night out with the girls sounded like fun. She was starting to realize that she had let those friendships just fade away…spending too much time on the job. There was more to life…or so she'd been told. Olivia wasn't exactly excited about going to a club, but it would be fun to be out.

Maybe it would take her mind off Elliot.

EOEOEOEO

Elliot was still lost in thought as he drove to the address Cragen had given them. He wondered if Olivia and Amy were going out tonight, and what a night out on the town with Amy might entail.

"So, you going to tell me what's going on? Or should I just pretend to be excited about picking up an extra case?"

Elliot looked over at Munch and gave him his best fake smile. "Be excited."

"That's what I figured." He said, settling back into the seat. "Olivia's gonna owe me."

Elliot stayed quiet. He wasn't in the mood for talking. He was surprised when John didn't bring it up again, or start rambling about something else. He must have realized the dark mood Elliot was in and decided silence was best. That suited Elliot just fine.

They arrived at the address in Alphabet City and Elliot let out a sigh when he saw the old building standing in front of him. It was rundown, with an air of desperation about it, and he wasn't looking forward to meeting up with one of its' occupants at the moment. He turned to Munch. "So, what's the story?"

Cragen had handed Munch a file on the way out and he had been reading it during the ride over. "Someone complaining about noise in one of the apartments. Says there's a young pregnant girl living there with two men, and they're not sure what's going on. But lots of yelling and fighting and they feel like something's off."

"But the girl herself isn't complaining?"

"I guess not."

Elliot sighed. This could be a volatile situation. "How do you want to handle it?"

"Robberies in the building?"

Munch nodded. "We can try that."

The both got out of their car and headed into the building. Elliot checked the note. Apartment 1B. Well, at least they didn't have to climb any stairs. He glanced over at Munch as they reached the door, and saw him nod. Elliot raised his hand and knocked on the door, giving it two solid raps.

Elliot put his ear to the door to see if he could hear any movement. He wanted to be prepared if one of the men answered the door vs. the woman. He didn't hear any movement at all. After a minute had passed, he knocked again.

Elliot looked at Munch and John shrugged. "We'll have to come back later." He said.

They both started to move away from the door when they heard a creak. When they turned around, they saw a young woman peering through a crack, the safety chain limiting how much the door could be opened. She had her head bowed slightly, and a tangle of dirty blonde hair partially covered her face. Elliot couldn't be sure of her age, but she was young…maybe 15 or 16? And she was definitely pregnant.

Elliot held up his badge, but he and Munch held their ground about ten feet from the door. They didn't want to startle her.

"Can we talk to you for a minute?"

The young girl didn't say a thing, so he pressed on. "There has been a string of robberies in the building and we're just going around from door to door to see if anyone has seen or heard anything suspicious. Or if you may have been the subject of a robbery yourself, that maybe you hadn't reported?"

His question got a small shake of the head, but the young girl still hadn't said a word.

"Do you live here alone?" Munch asked. "Maybe someone else has seen something."

The girl shifted from one foot to the other, and her eyes darted down to the floor and then back up at them.

Elliot took a gamble. "On the lease information, it says that two men live here. Is that right?"

The girl looked at him again and nodded. "Yeah, but they're not here right now."

Elliot thought they were making progress. "OK. Well can we come in and talk to you?" He watched as she turned her head back towards the apartment and then back to them. "Or, you could come out into the hallway and talk to us." He held up his hands. "We'll stay right here." The girl was jumpy and he wanted to assure her they wouldn't get too close.

The door slammed shut and he looked over at Munch again and sighed. He was about to ask him what they should do next when he heard the chain come off the door, and the door opened slightly. The girl looked at him, hesitating just inside the door, and then she slipped into the hallway. She closed the door behind her, leaving it open just an inch or so.

"Thank you." John said.

"So, can you tell me what your name is? Maybe just your first name?" Elliot asked.

The girl seemed to think about it for a moment, but must have decided to trust them. "Zoe."

"OK Zoe. Thank you. So, you live here?"

Zoe nodded.

"John Parsons and Terrance Martin live here too?"

Zoe looked confused. "No. Their names are Jimmy and Stan."

Bingo.

Munch looked down at the file, pretending to be confused about this piece of information. "The file must be wrong. Are you sure those are their names?"

Zoe nodded. "Jimmy Conlon and Stan Messner."

"Are you related to either one of them?

"Jimmy is my uncle."

Elliot sighed inwardly. He hoped to God that this girl wasn't pregnant by her uncle…or that Jimmy wasn't her real uncle. Either way, it wasn't good.

"Zoe, you know you can trust us, right?" Elliot said. He had to figure out a way to get this girl out of here. He didn't want to risk her two roommates showing up.

Zoe just looked at them, and then she nodded slowly.

"I want to tell you something and all I ask is that you listen. OK?"

Zoe looked at Elliot and then over at John, and nodded again.

"I don't know what the exact situation is here, but if you don't want to live with Jimmy and Stan anymore, we can take you away from here. We can find a new place for you to live. A place where you'll be safe. Well taken care of. You and your baby." He pointed to her belly. "I know you want a good life for your baby. There are people that can help with that."

He saw tears spring up in Zoe's eyes. "They'll find me. They'll hurt me." She whispered.

"No." Elliot said, taking a small step forward. "We're not gonna let that happen." He could see Zoe was visibly trembling. "We're not gonna let that happen." He repeated. "But if we're gonna go, we have to go now. Before they get back."

Zoe was indecisive. He could see it in her eyes.

"Please Zoe. I want you to be safe."

Elliot and Munch breathed out a sigh of relief when they saw her nod. Elliot took a few steps towards her as she turned back to the apartment.

"No." Elliot said. "We can't get your things. We don't have time."

"Just one thing?" she asked. Elliot nodded and she ran into the apartment and he held the door before it slammed, worried about his decision to let her go back in. He was relieved when she came back carrying a cheap brown purse and clutching a small white teddy bear.

"For the baby." She said in explanation.

Elliot nodded, and the three of them hustled out of the building.

EOEOEOEO

Olivia was still working at her desk as the afternoon wore on. It had been almost three hours since Elliot had left, and she kept one eye trained on the doorway, waiting for he and Munch to return. She had just focused back on the stack in front of her when she heard movement. She glanced up and saw it wasn't Elliot…it was Amy.

And Amy was carrying several shopping bags.

Olivia stood up. "What are you doing here?" she asked, glancing over at Fin and then at Cragen's office. She hadn't had a personal visitor in years, and now she had one two days in a row.

"I went shopping and I picked out a few things for you." She set the bags down on Eliot's desk and dropped her purse next to them. Amy started pulling tissue paper wrapped items out of the bags. "Now I didn't know exactly what size to get…" She tossed a lace trimmed camisole towards Olivia, and Olivia caught it. Then she tossed a short black skirt made from some kind of stretchy material, then a short black dress with spaghetti straps, and a few more items. Olivia couldn't keep up and she dumped them on the desk in front of her.

"Amy. I can't wear any of this." she said, picking up the dress and holding it up against her body. "I have boobs…and hips…"

She thought she had said it quietly, but Fin must have heard her because he let out a chuckle. Then she heard another laugh and she turned to see Elliot and Munch walking back into the squad room. It was Munch that had laughed, so he had probably heard her too. But her face was focused on Elliot's face…and his eyes as they trailed down her body, taking in the small black dress she held.

She saw his face flush…and she went from being embarrassed to intrigued.

"See Olivia? I think Elliot likes it." Amy said.

Now, it was Olivia's turn to blush.