A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Sorry it took longer than usual to update! I'm being monitored by my parents about what time I go to sleep, which is RIDICULOUS if you ask me! So I only have a few hours to write every day here and there - & this takes a long time... ugh.

Sudan vs. Sedan- I'd like to take this space to apologize for all the 'Sudan's in the last chapter. I was so completely unaware that it was Sedan haha & I also tend to be the worst speller of words in general, but my editor didn't catch it either! So I guess we're both stupid... I actually lost a little sleep over this, no lie, that's how dumb I felt. Sorry!

Preggo My Eggo- Some of you want to know if Liv's pregnant...Welll, now I'm a huge fan of Pregnant Olivia stories & I've been trying to think of ways to address your questions without totally giving away some of the story. But honestly I don't know if I can... There's deffinatly a few twists & turns in chapters to come so you'll just have to stick with me to find out what happens. But I think every one's first thoughts when Liv gets nauseous, are that she's pregnant - I think that might be some sort of wishful thinking though!

Kick the Bucket- And for those who are wondering, this is not a dead story! This chapter just took forever (actually only a week) since I had to keep reading/ re-reading to check for errors and characterization because my editor is out of town!! Please forgive me if I missed some! I'm really nervous about this chapter, eek. & I know there are some of you out there who aren't reviewing! THAT, is one terrrrible habit, you should break it starting now.

Disclaimer: I think if I owned them, Liv's haircut in season 2 would have never existed. Seriously, I can't watch episodes from that season - It bothers me that much. So if anything great happened in season 2... I'm sorry, I have no knowledge. Btw: Dick Wolf is like the master of ownage - ever notice that he owns like...everything.

Chapter 4: Something Like Temptation

This 'Aint Lust

Danny's Corner Deli

Friday, 12:30 pm

They'd just recently fallen into a comfortable silence after finishing their sandwiches and discussing the case. They both agreed that their best lead at the moment was the ex boyfriend, and they intended to go back to the station to see if they could find a Brendan in the system that matched the aunt's vague description.

Elliot took another sip of his coke before throwing his soiled paper plate away. He looked over at Olivia, who happened to be staring up at the dance studio's wall-length window, which was on the second story of the building across the street. He noticed the wind softly playing with the ends of her pony tail; she'd only just pulled it up. He liked when it did that and took advantage of the fact that she was obviously lost in thought, to openly take her in. He noticed that she wasn't as prominently cold with him as she had been a few hours ago but he could tell just by the way she held herself, that her guard was still up. Yet, even as they sat there, he could feel the tension become more soluble. It was odd, she was usually so cut throat when he screwed up. Maybe his apologies got through to her this time? Maybe he sounded more sincere than usual? Or maybe she just didn't want to put up with this whole situation snow balling into another incident where they both ended up transferring to computer crimes or God only knows what else… Either way, he wasn't complaining.

"Hey," she said, intruding on his thoughts in attempt to get his attention, keeping her eyes fixed on the window. She didn't know that she'd already had it for some time now. "You'd think if the boyfriend was stalking her, he'd have the perfect view to watch her for hours, right here without anyone getting suspicious." He raised his eyebrows and looked to the window where he saw the new class stretching. She had a point. And someone would have seen.

"Let's go to talk to the guy up front," he said standing up.

Within moments they were standing in front of, what looked like, the shop owner's son. He was maybe seventeen and had a kind, but somewhat intimidated, face as the detectives approached him and flashed their badges.

"You must get a lot of people who come by and like to watch, huh?" Olivia asked pointing to the large window where the girls were now spinning and leaping with agility. His gaze followed her hand and rested on the studio.

"Ugh…Yeah, I guess so," he answered, unsure of himself. He was perceptibly nervous but most people were when questioned by the authorities.

"Ever notice anyone hanging around longer or more often than called for?" Elliot asked. The kid shrugged his shoulders and tried to think quickly. "Nobody just sitting around lately, particularly staring at that window?"

"Well, there are always a few people, I guess. I mean… I dunno."

"Anyone that specifically struck you as odd?" Olivia asked, a little more firmly, tired of such indirect answers.

The boy's eyes darted between the two detectives anxiously. "Am I in some kind of trouble here? What's this about?"

"Don't worry, you're fine," Olivia assured him. "We just need you to answer the questions."

"Well," he said as if he were thinking about it and looking a bit more relieved. "I guess there's these two guys-"

"Could you describe them for us?" Elliot asked, preparing to take notes.

"Yeah, um, one's probably in his 20's. Skinny guy, black hair, white, and I don't know, maybe about 5'8. Always wearin' a green jacket. Comes by about twice a week. The other one's…like, gosh late 30's maybe? Maybe 40's. Wears a suit and tie, looks real nice, all cleaned up like he just came out of a meeting. He sits and watches, either here, or from his car. He's white too. Grey-ish brown hair, pretty tall, average, I guess, not sure really," he told them as Elliot quickly jotted everything down.

"Do these days and times seem, to you, about around the time that these two guys would show up?" she asked handing him a copy of Angela's dance schedule.

He nodded. "Yeah, those seem about right."

"Good."

"Yeah. Thanks for the help kid," Elliot said putting away the pad. Hopefully, they would have a solid lead by the end of the day.

16th Precinct: Squad Room

Friday, 1:00 pm

"Munch I want you to check out this guy's M.O., see if matches anyone in the system, even though I doubt you'll find one," Cragen muttered under his breath with a sigh.

"I'm telling you Captain, this guy was smart about it," Olivia explained. "Somehow he got her to open the door, beat her up pretty bad and then cleaned up his messed without leaving any evidence behind. Even the champagne glasses that he, no doubt, staged after the fact, had no prints or saliva on them. This was clearly premeditated."

Cragen nodded thoughtfully. "And you said that she thought she was being followed?"

"Yeah, we got a guy across the street from where she dances, to give us the descriptions of two guys that seem to like to watch her for over 2 hours at a time on the days that she's in class. One of them sorta matches the description that we got from the aunt but hers wasn't that great to begin with. We don't know if the other guy's just a coincidence or something to worry about, but my bet's on the ex," Elliot told him.

"Alright, Fin, I want you looking into this ex boyfriend, see if you can get a last name or an address. You two headed down to Warner's?"

They both nodded and were off.

16th Precinct: Squad Room

Friday, 9:44 pm

Olivia had just called Mark and he was on his way to pick her up. She was ready to go home and was glad that he didn't mind picking her up tonight. Cragen told them a few hours ago that once they'd written up their reports, they could leave for the day since there wasn't much else to go on, but she was still sifting through some of Angela's things that they'd collected from her apartment. She felt like everywhere they'd turned today, there was nothing but dead ends and she had a feeling that this box of receipts and bills would give her the same outcome.

Munch had found someone in the system with the name of Brendan Harris, who fit the description and age range they were looking for, and he apparently had a history of violence. He was a perfect suspect except for the fact that he was nowhere to be found. He hadn't shown up for work that day and nobody seemed to know where he'd gone or when he'd be back. They'd spent most of the day, after talking with Melinda, trying to figure out where they might be able to find this guy but they came up with nothing every time, just like they did with the evidence.

They'd found the murder weapon in her apartment but it had no prints or traces of blood. After the perp had knocked her out and kicked her in the head a few times, he'd slit her throat with one of the kitchen knives but it had been washed too, like everything else in her apartment. She had no traces of blood or skin under her nails either, which meant that he'd gotten her unconscious before she'd had the opportunity to fight back. They were still waiting for the tox screen to come back but there was no evidence of an injection site so they all had a feeling it would come up clean. They were coming up empty handed every time and with the boyfriend still missing, it looked like this was going to be more difficult than originally estimated.

Just as she was reluctantly piling some of the useless papers back into the box that she'd pulled them from, she heard footsteps coming closer. Looking up, she smiled at the sight of Mark coming through the door with a grin on his face. He was dressed down, comfortably, and it wasn't until she saw two small eyes poke out from behind his leg, that she noticed the small girl with loose, blonde curls trailing behind him. Her tiny hand clutched the left leg of his sweat pants as she followed him through the vast world that was the station house. Olivia laughed slightly when he noticed how closely she had been tailing him.

Kneeling down beside her, he glanced over at Olivia who was observing the pair with twinkling eyes, and then back to the small girl. "Hey, Heather-feather," he called her affectionately. "I've got an idea." Her big, hazel eyes looked at him with question as he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Why don't you go give Liv a big hug?" he suggested, raising his eyebrows animatedly in an effort to tempt the child. Her eyes widened slightly at the thought, a silly smile accenting her blushing, rosy cheeks, as she bashfully peeked over at the dark haired woman. She gave her father a questioning look, as if to ask if he was sure, but he just nodded and patted her back encouragingly. "Go ahead," he said, pushing her lightly before she broke into a full-on sprint towards her.

Olivia merely opened her arms to greet the lively, bright eyed, little girl into her arms. She knew Mark's daughter was always a little shy of her at first, but as soon as she was certain it was safe, she always latched on to Olivia as if they were joined at the hip. Frankly, it surprised Olivia each and every time, knowing how much his daughter talked about her parents getting back together. But she supposed at that age, children didn't make the connection that one could affect the other – that if her mom and dad got back together, she probably wouldn't see Olivia anymore. Nonetheless, she was glad that the small girl had taken a liking to her; it made things so much easier.

She let out a huff of air as the two collided, and scooped her up into her lap. She laughed as the girl squeezed her, giggling away. Finally, pulling back from her tight grip, she looked at her with a smile. "Heather-Anne, you're still awake? What's daddy doing, letting you stay up so late?"

"He said I could!" she squealed in between fits of laughter as Olivia tickled her sides a little. She didn't get to see Heather-Anne very often since she only stayed with Mark every other weekend, and although she was glad to see her, she was also extremely surprised – Mark always told her when he had his daughter for the weekend. She just smiled at her tiny wrinkled nose and small frame shaking with giggles before glancing over at Mark, who was playing the dutiful part of doting father as he observed the scene.

He couldn't be happier than when he saw the two most important girls in his life, together in the same room. It caused his heart to implode with surges adoration every time. When he had first told Olivia that he wanted her to meet his daughter, he could instantaneously feel that she was tentative about the idea. From the time that he had spent with Olivia, he could tell that this was going to be a big step for her and he could feel that she was tentative about the idea, but he assured her it would be fine. Truthfully, though, he thought that he might be more nervous than she was – he wanted to be certain that if he chose to expose his daughter to a new woman so shortly after the divorce, it would be the right woman. He could easily see now that it had been.

Candidly, he hadn't meant to fall for her, he hadn't even meant to stay long at that party where they'd met. Dan, a good friend of his, had decided to take him out one night and hit the bars – just to cheer him up since he was still sulking over the split. There was just one catch though, they'd have to stop first and make an appearance at one of his old, law school pal's birthday-get-together. He'd promised her that he would stop by, but they would only stay for a minute or two, Dan guaranteed him. Hesitantly, he had agreed but was slightly anxious about it for some reason, and it wasn't until they arrived, that his nerves began to ease. It was then, that he saw her. The tall, dark haired woman, talking to some older man in sunglasses. He couldn't keep his eyes off her, not even for a second, and he was worried that he'd come across as rude for so blatantly staring…but he just couldn't help it. She was beautiful. And she was looking back.

No, even after that, he hadn't meant to fall for her. He assumed that she would be the woman in between – she would help him get back into the swing of things, nothing serious. She was attractive, fun, seemed to want the same things as he did…It was a shock to both of them when they realized just how much they actually enjoyed each other's company.

"Sorry that I didn't mention she would be with me, earlier," he said referring to their conversation in the car. "Jackie dropped her off at around 5 unexpectedly, said she had to go out of town or something, I don't know. But when I told Heather that I was going to go pick you up later, I promised her we could have 'Sleepover at Liv's' if she was good," he said with a laugh as Heather-Anne gave a firm nod of affirmation, her curled, blonde ends, bouncing slightly. "I hope that's okay."

"Of course it is," Olivia said smiling back at the six year old in her lap who was now playing with her necklace. "We'll have lots of fun, won't we?"

"Yep," she said distantly, still mesmerized by the gold chain hanging from Olivia's neck.

"You're sure you're not too tired," she asked her skeptically, when she gave a big yawn, but she shook her head adamantly. "Alright, if you're sure," she said, giving her a knowing smile. "Did you bring Peter?" Olivia was, of course, speaking of the grey, stuffed cat that she knew Heather-Anne took everywhere.

"Uh huh!" she said, suddenly full of energy again. "He's in the car, come on let's go!" She hopped down from Olivia's lap, grabbing her hand in hers. As she began to run for the door, Olivia had to try and loosen her hand from Heather's tiny grasp.

"Hold on, sweetie, hold on," she said leading her back over to the desk. "Just let me get my keys first, and then we can go, k?" She quickly grabbed her jacket, keys, and bag before turning back to the all too eager girl, waiting patiently. "Alright," she signaling that all was a go, and they were off again, the bouncing six year old dragging Olivia behind her.

As she was being hauled through the doors of the one-six, she looked over at Mark with a marveled expression. He returned the look before quickly capturing her lips with his.

"Hey."

"Hey," she barely got out before she was pulled off once more, laughing and giving him an apologetic look.

"Heather, are you forgetting someone? Remember, good, ol' dad? Wait up!"

Benson Residence

Friday, 10:05 pm

"There you go," Olivia said softly, settling Heather-Anne into a comfy pile of blankets on the couch. She was already half asleep when they'd walked through the door and Olivia couldn't help but admire her childish spurts of energy and then lulls drowsiness at the drop of a dime. She watched Heather's eyes droop shut into a lazy haze as she cuddled the grey cat nested in her small arms. As she witnessed this, a small pang tugged at her heart and her eyes suddenly burned with a flash of tears, but at the realization of what this could lead to, she quickly put the ambuscading moisture at bay before it could be noticed. His little girl was just so beautiful… What she wouldn't give to experience motherhood, but she knew it wasn't a possibility so why put herself through these emotions by taking the thought any further? Technically it was a possibility but in reality, she knew that she was, most likely, not going to end up having children. She was getting older, she was with someone who already had a child, and probably didn't want another one – not that she should even be thinking about having children with Mark. She was getting way too far ahead of herself.

As she was pushing these thoughts from her mind, she felt a warm hand place itself on her shoulder, gently rubbing her tense muscles. She titled her face to the side and met his amorous gaze. "Rough day?" he asked softly.

She exhaled deeply before saying in the same quiet tone, "Yeah, I guess you could say that." A small smile flickered across her face, and she kissed him briefly, before making her way into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He followed and watched her retrieve a glass from one of the cabinets and then fill it at the sink.

"Anything you want to talk about?" he asked her placidly, walking towards her.

She turned around to face him, back to the sink, and shrugged it off. "Not really, just partner stuff…" she sighed as he ran his hands therapeutically up and down her arms. "Nothing that won't eventually work itself out." She lifted her eyes to meet his and found a silly grin playing on his mouth. Feeling herself blush for no reason, she questioned his stare. "What?"

"You're just…so good with her," he said referring to his daughter, bringing a hand to her face to move a piece of hair – in fact, just an excuse to touch her. He really can't get over it, she's just too beautiful for words.

Her eyes shift their gaze to his mouth, what did she ever do to get so lucky? "Thanks," she whispers softly before his lips lightly brush hers. She smiles, knowing that he's teasing her, and immediately recaptures his lips, firmly in hers. She can feel his strong hands move gradually down to her waist as their kiss becomes more passionate. Letting one of her hands rest on his chest, and the other at the base of his neck, she pushes her body against his, feeling the counter pressing into the small of her back. Finally, breaking away for air, he lets his head fall idly next to hers, placing lazy kisses along the side of her ear and jaw line.

"You ready?" he asks her breathlessly. She had seen this coming but couldn't bear to break away. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to indulge in the feeling of his lips moving slowly against her skin, desperately having to will herself not to comply with him.

"No, baby, not while your daughter's here," she says catching her breath, but her words seem to have no affect on him. He just moves back to her mouth, attempting to persuade her with his eager lips. He was doing a damn good job too.

"You saw her," he says in between kisses. "She's already asleep."

"I know…" she said, knowing he wasn't going to give up easily. "But I can't… Not while she's just sleeping out here on the couch." Once again, as if completely deaf to her words, he continued to kiss her, this time bring his fingertips to the side of her face and lightly running them down her neck and through hair, barely making contact but just enough so that she shivered beneath his touch. He knew it was something she couldn't resist, and he could feel the heat radiate through her body as her hair stood on end. He wasn't about to make this easy for her.

Arching her back, she almost caved into temptation then and there, but thoughts of his little girl, innocently laying just a few feet away simply wouldn't leave her mind. She couldn't let this go any further as she was already beginning to feel the sensible parts of herself drift away. "Mark…" she softly moaned, pleading with him to stop before she lost control of her ability to say no. "You've gotta stop babe."

Knowing that he was fighting a losing battle, he heaved a sigh, resting his forehead against hers, and closed his eyes. "You're really not going to change your mind are you?"

"No," she said quietly, her voice filled with a simplistic regret. It's not like she didn't want to! It was just the thought of his daughter waking up in the middle of the night that bothered her. "Sorry, it's just…"

"I know, I know," he said running both of his hand down his face. He looked at her for a second before placing a hand on the counter and leaning on it. "But hey," he said with an idea that just might convince her. "What do you think married couples do?"

She laughed. "We're not married," she said walking away and heading towards her bedroom.

"So? It's the same principle."

She turned around, half way down the hall, and looked him in the eye knowingly. "No it's not, and you know it."

"You're really going to have to explain this one to me," he said, having no idea what she was talking about. "Married couples, who have children in their house, have sex all the time," he explained as she rolled her eyes and continued toward her bedroom with him following closely behind. "And now, just because we're not married, and there's a child in the house, we can't?"

She closed the door behind him and answered. "Yep."

"What?"

"Listen," she said trying to talk to him sensibly. "You've just gone through a divorce and your daughter is young. She still thinks you and Jackie are going to get back together for Christ's sake," she explained. "This whole thing is difficult enough for her already, and I don't want her to ever have to feel uncomfortable here."

"But, Liv," he whined as she walked toward her drawers. "She sleeps like a log. She'd never even know!"

"I don't care," she said laughing at his determination.

Groaning he fell back on to her bed. "And now I have to watch you change?!" he asked incredulously. "Think of what you're doing to me here!"

She continued to laugh. "Would it possibly help you if I wore baggier clothes or something?" she asked, pulling off her jeans and throwing them in a pile on the side of her dresser.

"No," he moaned, looking at the ceiling with his arms still sprawled out and his knees hanging over the edge. "You always look sexy – damn you."

"What are you, 15?"

"Yes," he said childishly.

She chose to ignore his juvenile remark, and walked over to his pathetic form, laid out on her bed, wearing nothing but a large t-shirt, that fell about mid-thigh, over her underwear. Seductively, she crawled on top of him and playfully pushed his short hair away from his face.

"Are you just trying to make me have sex with you now?" he asked her, unclenching his eyes only to find her on top of him in practically nothing.

She grinned impishly. "No."

"Well you're headed down that road again," he warned her, obviously in pain. "So I suggest if you don't want me touching you, you better just lay off there, partner…"

"Who says I don't want you touching me?" she asked, her grin growing wider.

Mark stared at her, wide eyed, and just threw his head back, closing his eyes once more in attempt to block out the fact that his girlfriend was straddling him but didn't want to have sex. Who does that?! He let out a deep sigh of frustrated confusion. "What do you want from me woman?!"

She grabbed his shirt and rolled over, pulling him on top of her. Still griping his shirt, she pulled him closer and kissed him passionately. In his utter confusion, he didn't object but met her kiss with equal force until, at last, she broke for air and smiled wickedly. "Absolutely nothing," she said breathlessly, and stood up, walking towards the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed.

Leaving him slightly winded, dazed and confused, he sighed, an exasperatingly simple, "God, I love you."

He fell back on her slightly rumpled comforter and thankfully, did not see her stomach drop at his words. She rarely ever told men that, and she even more rarely ever let them in to the point where she actually meant it. She paused, waiting for panic to spread through her veins and overcome her but surprisingly, that's not the emotion she was met with. Slowly, she was encompassed by what felt like a compulsion – a rightness – that in turn, made her want to say it back. Did that mean she was in love though? In the few relationships where she did let those three, little words slip from her mouth, she'd felt terrible afterwards, perhaps even guilty. She didn't want to feel that way with Mark…she didn't want to screw this up. She couldn't say that she wished he hadn't said it, but she also couldn't identify with the sudden weight on her chest. It wasn't a pressure to go out there and say it back, it was more like a need with an impulsive nature, to go out there and say it back. What the hell was she going to do?! She didn't know… All she knew was that the weight kept building.

Once she was finished in the bathroom, she reentered her bedroom to find Mark already under the covers waiting for her. She noticed his sweatpants and t-shirt discarded in a neat pile next to her bed. When he heard the door open, he opened his eyes and looked over to her with a sleepy smile on his face, which she returned as she climbed into bed, and turned off the light. She leaned into his embrace as he wrapped his arm around her stomach and pulled her back closer against his chest.

"Night, Liv," he said softly as they both relaxed into her soft bedding.

"Night…" she whispered and they fell silent.

Still unable to ease her restless thoughts, she let out a soft, "Mark…?"

"Hm?" he asked drowsily and her heart raced.

"I love you, too," she said quietly and felt him smile in her neck. Gently tightening his grip on her, he place a tender kiss on her earlobe before letting himself drift off once more. The weight was lifted, and all she could do was smile.

A/N: Oh goodness! Liv's found love! How swell! Now, I need to know how the chapter felt for you all. I REALLY need to know. I didn't want it to be too corny or get OOC but I don't know have anyone telling me when it gets that way so here's your chance and I'll see what I can do in the upcoming chapters. Tell me what you like, what kind of scenes you want to see and I'll try to work more of that in. But in order to do so, you must REVIEW. Now, do yo' thang :)