She awoke to her alarm, smacking at her phone to get it shut up. She had slept, better than she expected, but her phone had gone off in the middle of a dream and jarred her out of REM.

She had trouble turning the coffee pot on, couldn't seem to keep both eyes open and blinked heavily when a thud sounded on her door.

It came again, someone knocking, and she shuffled to it with very little thought.

Voight stood there, a gym bag slung over his shoulder, a smile on that stupidly handsome face and Lana scowled at him.

"How... What?"

He held out a white coffee cup to her, and she took it, silently letting him in.

Her tshirt barely reached her thighs, hair a tangled knot, with sleep still gunked in the corner of her eyes, and they widened as her first sip of coffee helped wake her brain up.

She hadn't even brushed her teeth yet.

He settled his hip against her counter, crossed his arms and watched her with a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"Did I wake you?"

"No," she shot back, defensively, and she could tell he didn't believe her.

"I figured you'd be up, I wanted to catch you before you left. Figured you might want to get some sparring in before shift."

"Normally?" she croaked, "Yeah. But I need a minute to wake up. I haven't even showered yet."

His eyes narrowed, a tight little smile playing at his lips and he stepped nearer.

"You haven't?"

He kissed her, before she really even realized he was moving, his body had met hers. He tasted like coffee and cold air and she was surprised at the sound that left her.

He walked her down her own hall, hands not leaving her, insistent and moving until he presses her against the wall by her shower and reaches in to turn the water on.

It heats, spilling steam into the air and he pushes her into the shower. Her shock of laughter turns to shaken breath as he follows. The water drenches her tshirt to her body as he kisses her, the water moulding his dark tee against his frame.

Their hands leave prints in the steam on the shower door, as the water collects and trails down the glass.


Lana toweled through her hair, watching Voight flip the eggs that were finishing in the pan. She dropped her towel over the chair and stretched, feeling it in every part of her.

"So much for sparring," she muttered, grabbing another cup of coffee, and Voight sent her a glance, dropping the kitchen towel over his shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure that counted."

His smirk made her cheeks heat. The way he was standing in her tiny kitchen, cooking them breakfast as they began their day together left a tight feeling in her stomach.

"I'm gonna be late," her gaze darted away from him to the clock over the microwave.

"You have time to eat," he countered, dishing the eggs out on a plate, "I'll give you a ride in."

She hesitated. She didn't even really know why. Something about arriving together had her hands tightening on her coffee mug.

"Right," Hank read her look and realized what it meant. Them coming in together would cause talk. What they were doing, him being with her, was against the rules. He was willing to break them, had never really cared about his reputation there, but it was different for her. A younger female cop, new to the precinct, arriving with her commanding officer. There were dozens of ways that could go poorly for her and he was annoyed with himself that he had even suggested it. He didn't need to be doing anything to make this hard on her.

He set the plate down on the counter, sticking a fork into the eggs. "Eat," he jabbed a finger at her breakfast and grabbed his bag. He stopped long enough to press a kiss to her forehead. "I'll see you at precinct."

The look he sent her held even understanding, and Lana was relieved she hadn't even had to try to explain.

Doing this, being this with Voight, it left her feeling ways she didn't understand. So steady, like stepping off a boat onto the solid unmoving dock. The ground beneath her feet was stable for the first time in who knew how long, but her body hadn't caught up to it. It kept expecting the ground to shift and her knees to buckle. She felt off center because she was finally centered on something real and part of her wanted to bury her face in his chest and shut her eyes until everything stopped spinning.

She was happy. And she hated the tiny voice inside that said she couldn't trust it. Because the one thing she knew for absolutely certainty was that she could trust Voight.


It was grueling work, name and faces in file after file as they built their way through this case. Momentum was on their side, and Lana grabbed a paper out of the printer behind Erin as Antonio scribbled down a number from a call. It had been nonstop information all day and Lana returned to her seat with an unconsious sigh. It was past noon already and she hadn't eaten, hadn't seen Voight since he had left her place that morning, a call had taken him out of the office before she even arrived, and she missed him. That solid presence in the background that she had relied on long before she ever thought she would fall for it. He was calm, rough and gritty and not always predictable but he leveled out this team into something unshakeable.

Commander Crowley would never understand that, even some of the others probably took it for granted, but they wouldn't be half the officers they were if it weren't for him.

Her phone rang, and she popped it to her ear while hunting for a pen. His voice came through the line.

"Milani."

"Heey," she couldn't stop the relief infused into a single word, and there was a pause. A moment as Voight heard the stress behind her voice and wanted to ask if she was alright.

He cleared his throat. "I need you to run a name for me."

Lana propped the phone on her shoulder and scribbled the name, "Give me just a sec."

The line was silent as she typed, whatever Voight was doing, she didn't know, but even that wordless connection still felt like him.

She rattled off the details, gave Voight the last known address, and gave him a moment to jot it down.

"Thanks, Milani."

He didn't hang up, not right away, and she held silent for a few shared seconds, a slow release of breath. Then Antonio dropped a file on her desk he needed help with and it was back to the grindstone.


The day wouldn't end. They had traced down some major players but hadn't come close to reaching the end of the food chain, and Lana shut off her computer with a numb sort of exhaustion.

The office was empty. The others had stepped out a few at a time to run down leads and Voight had never made it back in.

It was a major case that could make or break careers and save a lot of lives. No one was taking this lightly, but her feet ached as she walked home, and she wished she didn't feel so heavy.

Voight hadn't called, was likely still working and she wouldn't interrupt that. She respected the boundaries he held between work and private life, but when her phone rang as she stepped off the stairs to her apartment floor, a shot of adrenaline went through her.

"Are you home?" his rough voice didn't sound tender but a smile slipped across her lips.

"Just, yeah."

She tugged out her keys as the doors to the elevator slid open across the hall.

"Good." His response echoed in the hall as Voight stepped out of the elevator.

She went still as he came towards her, like her brain was taking a second to catch up.

"You're here-" but the mumbled surprise was interrupted as his fingers thread through the base of her hair and he rested his forehead against hers.

"I've been waiting for this, since I walked out your door this morning, and it took too damn long to get back here."

Her chuckle was light, her fingers resting on his bicep, "Long day?" she asked, tilting her chin just enough, and his sigh met her kiss.

It was slow, and achingly tender, like he was setting right every moment he had wished he could be here that day.

There was a thump as her bag landed on the floor, discarded as her hands trailed over his back as his hand gripped her hip and pulled her closer.

Her heart was pounding, building with a storm that had begun so gently and now held the force to pull her into its center.

His hand caught the door jam behind her, leaning into her with a commanding intensity that replaced her exhaustion with an ache of different sort. The kind of sweet torture that needed his touch to never end.

Voight felt her tighten against him, moulding her body to his without a breath of space between, and he groaned against her lips.

He didn't know how he had gotten here, how he had ever ended with her wanting him, needing him, but he broke the kiss before he forgot where they were and her hands gripped his shirt, panting.

"Open your f-ing door."

He felt the shiver go through her.

She titled her chin, eyes meeting his and she smirked. "What if I don't."

Voight cursed, dropping his head against her shoulder as a thousand images went through his mind of them never making it into her apartment.

"Are you trying to kill me, woman."

She laughed, letting herself slump back against the wall, relaxed her hands and let them trail down his chest, felt his breathing start to even out as his head stayed tucked against her shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked after a moment, straightening up, "You sounded stressed today."

There was frank concern in his eye, like checking in on her was as natural as breathing, and Lana felt a smile curve.

"I'm glad you're here," was her only answer.

He dropped a kiss on her forehead. Bent and retrieved her bag for her as she grabbed her keys.

"You should eat," he commented, following her in to the apartment and setting her bag on the table by the door. She dropped the keys beside it.

"That can wait."


Lana reached for her coffee, glancing down from her computer screen when her hand didn't find it. She blinked at her desk a moment before remembering she had gone to reheat her coffee 20 minutes ago and never gotten it from the microwave.

She stood with a slight groan, feeling the stiff protest down her back. Attwater gave her a glance as she headed towards the kitchen, the office was quiet and her grunt at having to move had been louder than she intended.

"You alright, Lana?"

"Just been sitting too long," Lana responded in his general direction before stepping in to the break room. Her whole body felt tired, and being stuck in that office chair wasn't helping.

Everyone else had barely been in the office. Voight had started the morning informing them that Olivia Benson and some of her team would be coming in to help the investigation, and Lana needed to get everything they had so far read worthy so they could bring them up to speed.

Benson's experience and fresh eyes would be hugely beneficial, but Lana was lagging a few steps behind feeling excited.

Her coffee had cooled down again just sitting in the microwave, and she jabbed the minute button on the microwave, listening to the quiet whir as voices announced the return of some of the team to the office. Ruzek was back, Antonio trailing in behind him, and she heard their exchange with Attwater.

"Benson has a ton of experience, Voight called her in because we could use all the help we can get." Antonio sounded annoyed, and she could practically hear the smirk on Ruzek's face as he replied.

"Yeah, I'm sure thats the only reason."

Lana watched the seconds counting down, her coffee revolving behind the yellowed window. Intentionally ignoring them.

"What?" Ruzek continued when Antonio didn't seem convinced, "You really think there's not something going on there?"

"Who cares if there is? What's it matter what the boss does, long as it don't involve us." Attwater's tone protested the entire conversation like it wasn't worth any of their time, but Ruzek wouldn't quit.

"Cuz if Voight is getting some action, he might chill out a little. Who wouldn't want that?"

Lana snorted. It came out before she could stop it, and there was a beat of silence as it reached the other room.

"The hell was that?" Ruzek asked. He appeared in the doorway a moment later just as the microwave beeped.

"Lana, help me out."

Lana barely glanced at him, grabbing her coffee out and swishing it around before trying it.

"You gotta agree with me."

It was hot on her tongue, hotter than she expected, and she swallowed quickly before setting the mug on the counter and hunting down the sugar.

Ruzek wouldn't stop talking. "You had to have seen it too."

The image of a lingering hug sprung to mind as Olivia had met Voight on his doorstep, and Lana shoved it away, stirring her coffee with more force than necessary. Voight had explained that, explained his friendship with Benson, and she wasn't going to let Ruzek's obsession screw with her mind.

Even if it was screwing with her mood.

Her spoon clattered on the counter, and she took another sip.

"Come on, Voight and Benson, they're totally an item, right?"

"You wanna repeat that?"

Voight's voice had Lana stilling, the ceramic cup warm against her tongue as Ruzek's eyes went wide. She lowered the mug slowly as Ruzek turned to greet Voight.

"Hey boss, I didn't mean, I mean, I was just messing around." Attwater and Antonio were both pointedly busy behind Voight. Both had seen him coming, and neither had bothered to let Ruzek know. Ruzek was going to chew them out for that later.

"Sergeant Benson's personal life is none of your concern."

There was something deeply unsettling about how calm Voight was. Ruzek had always hated when Voight lost his temper, but right now he would take getting screamed at over this any day. Voight took a step nearer and Ruzek's stomach twisted in on itself.

"And neither is mine." His eyes flickered, away from Ruzek long enough to glance at Lana. He hadn't forgotten, the tension in Lana when she had asked about Olivia, how certain she had been that Benson had meant something to him. And if Ruzek's questions had her doubting for even one moment, it made him want to rip the question from Ruzek's tongue until he choked on it. He would gladly explain, in detail, what Lana was to him and what every other woman just wasn't. The fact that Ruzek had looked at Lana and even mentioned another woman had the tendons tightening in his fingers until he felt them ache.

But the desire to set to right just how wrong Ruzek was was tempered only by her. Telling Ruzek off would do nothing for her. Her reputation, her career, weren't things he was willing to risk.

"Go help Platt with an errand." He bit out the command and to his disbelief, Ruzek actually started to argue. Voight cut him off.

"If you got time to run your mouth, you clearly don't have enough work to do. Get. Now!"

His eyes rested on Lana as Ruzek ducked away. There was no chance of saying something now, with an office full of listening ears.

Lana took her coffee and passed by him, expression intentional disinterested, and Voight bit back an oath.

Her head was pounding. She set her coffee down as she reclaimed her seat and focused on the screen. Stress had crept up her neck and tightened the tendons as she moved. They had gathered so much information in a landslide of forward motion after staying stagnant for so long. And her brain wasn't sorting out the details as easily as she would have liked.

Voight moved to his office, not before stopping by Lindsey's desk, and a minute later Erin appeared at Lana's side.

"Alright. What can I do."

Lana looked up in mild surprise, "Voight says Benson is landing in tonight. No sense you sorting through this on your own."

She held out her hands, and Lana's gaze fell to the assorted piles of folders that dotted her desk. She lifted one after a moment's deliberation and handed it to Erin.


They had worked til 6, the rustle of paper and occasional question murmured in the otherwise quiet office. It was oddly calm, but the tension in Lana's head hadn't eased.

She followed Voight into his home, letting him take her jacket as he hung it by the door.

She hadn't said much, had accepted his offer for dinner with a tired smile, and Voight was trying not to over think it.

He moved into the kitchen to start a pot of decaf. Lana lingered in the doorway, slender shoulder against the door frame, and Voight sent her a glance.

"You know Ruzek is full of crap, right?"

He set the carafe onto the base of the coffee pot and turned it on.

Lana hummed noncommittally, watching as Voight dried his hands on a dish towel and came to stand in front of her.

"He should know better than to be running his mouth about stuff he knows nothing about," he came to a stop in front if her, ducking his head just a little to look into her eyes. "But if you're worried, Lana, I swear there's nothing-"

Lana surprised him by laughing.

"I'm not worried, Hank," she came forward, laying her head against his shoulder as her hands wrapped up in the edges of his shirt, "I'm just tired, is all."

Yeah, Ruzek was annoying, and yeah, Benson was a thousand times more successful and put together than Lana would ever be. She was beautiful and shared a history of being Voight's ally.

But none of that mattered. Because Voight was Voight. He was upfront and loyal and didn't play games and when he had told her there was nothing going on with Olivia, he had meant it.

That didn't mean she liked listening to Ruzek play 20 questions about him and Benson.

Voight's hands slid down her back, holding her closer before stepping back, "Then why don't you go lay down."

She would have protested but he nudged her gently on, and Lana let herself be convinced.


"Milani."

"Hmm." She hummed against the pillow, only half willing to wake up.

"There's food." Voight's voice sounded again, and she shook her head, tugging the blanket a little higher.

"Un-uh."

She felt the bed dip as Voight settled beside her, his hand come to rest on her back. It held still a minute before smoothing over her skin, coming to rest against her forehead.

"Huh."

She nestled into the touch, not really hearing his quite mutter. She protested when the bed shifted and his weight moved away, his lips pressing into her forehead a moment later.

"Get some sleep."

She felt the covers shift as he pulled them over her, and nestled in a little deeper.