December 19, 2012 1:39pm-16th Precinct

She felt his eyes before she saw his face.

After last night's episode, Olivia was looking forward to a Nick-free zone for a few days. She came in early to catch up, enjoyed a drama-free breakfast and three hours of uninterrupted work. Until now. Apparently, he decided not to cash in that mental health day after all.

Guess my peace and quiet for the day is over.

She sighed and spun her chair around to confront him.

His usual soulful eyes were replaced with two heat seeking missiles, and she felt her skin burn with each glance.

"Good morning, Nick. I'm surprised to see you this morning," she said with a fake smile.

Her forced enthusiasm increased his annoyance, and his lower lip jutted out like a petulant five-year old.

"Nick, you can pout after your shift. Right now we've got a stack of paperwork to cover. So can you put on your big boy pants and help out?"

He lowered his voice. "So, this starts Round 2, huh? I see you didn't waste any time. You know after your performance last night, if I were you, I wouldn't be giving a maturity lecture."

She drove her nails into her palm until the pain drowned out her anger. She wasn't going to let him slide underneath her skin and risk causing a scene at her job. She was a firm believer that you should never shit where you eat.

He leaned in, dangerously close to her pulse point, and breathed in her scent. Memories of their undercover stint enslaved his senses. His frigid lips feasting on the warm skin of her neck. The notes of rose, dark chocolate—and something distinctly "Liv"—that lingered on his tongue several hours later. He would've gladly substituted her perfume for his mouthwash—if it wasn't considered weird to rinse your mouth out with Eau de Parfum.

Her anger heated her blood, and Nick swore her perfume pumped out of every pore. He was delirious, but he had to maintain some semblance of control. He pulled back.

"I see you're hard at work. I don't want to interrupt you. We both know your job is the only thing you're willing to commit yourself to.

She gave him a bitter smile. She leaned in so they were closer than they were just moments before. She lowered her voice until it was one octave above a whisper.

"What a brilliant observation, Nick. Did you arrive at this conclusion while you were servicing me under the table last night?"

His mouth hung open and he tried shutting it quickly, but it was too late. She knew she had him. At that moment he was more caught up with one-upping her than her feelings and decided to lay into her.

"I'll let you get back to your job, but be careful. You know what they say, never spend all of your time loving something that can't love you back."

That's IT!

She could ignore his snide remark about her immaturity, but she drew the line at her job. Because to Olivia, this wasn't just a job; it was her life's purpose. Other people had hobbies like writing or hiking; for Olivia, it was rounding up the Tri-State's lowest life forms: sex offenders.

She slammed her fist against the metal desk and felt an instant regret. The noise from the impact rang out through the precinct like a gunshot. The floor became eerily silent at once, and a dozen pair of eyes zoomed in on her.

Congratulations, not only did you get his attention, but now the entire squad's tuned into the Benson-Amaro show. This day just keeps getting better.

Nick's eyes darted around the room and saw the intense attention on Olivia. As furious as he was with her at the moment, he knew how guarded she was about her privacy. He glanced at her face and saw the panic in her eyes. Nick "the hero" stepped in to declare a temporary truce, while his jackass alter ego took a time out.

"Liv, take it easy, huh? Is this about IAB? What's that douche bag Tucker up to now?" Nick said loud enough for everyone to hear in order to deflect the attention away from her. She looked up, forehead creased in confusion, but then she saw the twinkle in his eye. She regained her composure and played along.

At the mere mention of IAB, the vibe of the department shifted from inquisitive into a unified disgust. Part of Olivia felt guilty about using Ed as a scapegoat. Then again, knowing Tucker, he probably was hatching a plan to take them down at that very moment.

"Tucker's just doing his job—trying to drag SVU through the mud. What else is new? Can I speak with you outside?"

His nod was the cue that she needed. She grabbed her coat, spun on her heel and damn near ran out the door. His eyes surveyed the room, and he saw that the normal hustle and bustle of the floor returned. The other officers were running up and down the floor, too preoccupied with their work to be nosy. He smirked, declared himself a genius, put on his jacket and strolled out the door.

But not everyone on the floor was convinced, namely an attentive blonde and her equally skeptical partner.

Fin leaned in close to Amanda and dropped his voice a notch before he spoke, in case any prying ears still lingered, "Tell me you didn't fall for any of that nonsense."

"Nope. Glad to see that you didn't either."

"Please. You should know I'm better than that 'Manda."

She held back a laugh and smirked instead, "Why, because you're naturally suspicious?"

"Naw, you got me mixed up with Munch. I ain't the conspiracy nut."

"Ah, I forgot, you're the trusting one," she teased.

"I ain't say that either, smart ass," he retorted with a faint smile. "I'm not suspicious or trusting."

"What are you, then?"

"I'm a detective. And right now I detect a load of bullshit."

She let loose the laugh she'd been holding in, drawing a chuckle out of Fin.

"Alright detective, you gonna share your findings with me or am I gonna have to beat them out of you?"

But the smile that ghosted his face vanished, and his usual stoic expression took its place. There was something familiar about Olivia's behavior. As much as he didn't want to admit it, it was déjà vu. The hot-blooded back-and-forth between partners, the need to go outside to cool off. This was the same behavior that made almost everyone in the precinct think that she was screwing Stabler. Of course he, Cragen and Munch didn't think this, but he had heard enough of the whispers from the other officers to know that not everyone believed the infamous duo were platonic.

Fin was no fan of Elliot. He called Stabler a lot of names over the years, mostly to his face. But Elliot wasn't a cheater—that much he knew. And Olivia lived for her job too much to risk it for some adulterous fling.

But Nick was separated from his wife, and Fin noticed that the junior detective was a little "handsy" when it came to Olivia. At first Fin thought he was being protective, after all, he saved her life within the first few months of their partnership. He often noticed Nick's hand at the base of her back when they worked a case. The first few times she seemed surprised at the contact. These days, however, she was quite comfortable with his touch; she even leaned into his hand on a couple of occasions. Again, Fin assumed this was because of how close they had become. Nick proved his loyalty to her and won her trust after Stabler unceremoniously peaced out, and Fin knew that meant a lot to her. Loyalty and trust were huge in her world.

But today's squabble seemed more like a lovers quarrel than a spat between partners. But he refused to believe that his friends would risk their jobs and their partnership for an office romance—especially Olivia.

Olivia was his girl, she was practically family, so even if his suspicions were correct, he wouldn't breathe a word to anyone—except her. He quickly put on a neutral mask. He couldn't risk Amanda finding out.

But Amanda was too deep in her own thoughts to even acknowledge him—let alone his secret.

Her mind flashed back to Nick and Olivia's stakeout last month. She had a little too much to drink that night and was off her game. But even with five neat bourbons coursing through her veins, she sensed something between the two detectives. It was 30 degrees outside when she saddled up to the cruiser, but Olivia's face was flushed and sweaty. And Nick, who called her hungry and desperate two hours before, didn't look the least bit relieved to see her standing there with his food. He looked annoyed, as if he was interrupted.

Liv and Nick? Naw, can't be. Then again…why not? They're both hot.

Their age difference was slightly "cougar-esque," but there was an undeniable tension between them. Amanda chalked this up to the fact that Olivia and Nick were both stubborn and neither backed down without a fight. But her new reasoning made more sense.

My theory fits. Those two have been eye-bangin' each other for months. But were they willing to put their jobs on the line?

Amanda hoped that she was wrong because the last thing she wanted was to see either (or both) detective lose their job. Or worse, have IAB snooping around. They'd be up SVU's ass with a microscope in a New York minute.

Until I know for sure, I'll just act like its business as usual. Can't risk Fin "detecting" anything fishy.

She donned an unreadable expression and looked at her partner. They both sported uneasy grins, each one unaware that the other harbored the same secret.