I'm sure our particular victim didn't come as too much of a surprise for anyone. That being said, if I actually offended anyone by killing off Gillian Hardwicke, please let me know! :)

Thanks for reading!

"Our victim is former Assistant District Attorney Gillian Hardwicke," Cragen stated loudly to the expansive group of cops that surrounded the screen. A recent photo of Hardwicke sat proudly on the screen; her eyes seemed to possess a knowing look, her smile a smugness that spoke volumes though the lips were closed. Next to it, the gruesome photo of her bruised, paled face as it was right then.

Cragen continued. "Ms. Hardwicke had been displaying some uncharacteristic behavior in her final days as the SVU ADA. She insisted, when she told me she would be leaving the job in two days, that she had given a two weeks' notice. However, Jack McCoy informed me later that she had done no such thing."

Olivia nodded. That explained a lot.

"Also, Hardwicke withdrew from her last case unexpectedly, leaving Alex Cabot and Casey Novak to learn the case in just a couple of days. Except it wasn't actually Hardwicke who called to withdraw; it was her husband. After a background check, however, it turns out she wasn't married, so the identity of the actual caller is, so far, unknown. We currently have someone going back in the phone records to identify the number used to make the call, and trace it."

Elliot then came in to interrupt. "Captain, just got off the phone with Boston Homicide. They haven't heard from her, nor seen her. And trust me, that guy was pissed about it."

"That, by the way, was supposedly Hardwicke's intended next position. Apparently, she never made it," Cragen sighed. "That's all we got so far. Most of you have been assigned a member of the court to interview, just in case they noticed anything. The rest have either been assigned to her home or office. This is serious, everyone. This is one of our own, so let's get to it."

"You didn't know her at all?" Munch leaned his head on his hands as he stared across at Casey.

"Barely. She worked for Brooklyn before, and I always worked in Manhattan. When she transferred here, I was in Washington," Casey replied with a shrug. "I really wish I could be more helpful, but that's all I got, John."

"I briefly worked in Brooklyn before I came to SVU the first time, but I only knew her in passing, and I haven't spoken more than two words to her recently." Alex shook her head at Elliot.

"Yeah, I kind of figured as much," Elliot sighed.

"Gillian tried her final case in my courtroom," Judge Petrovsky told Fin. "She seemed…a little off her game. I mean, she still took an easy win, but I noticed her fidgeting a little bit, and occasionally jumping to attention as if she'd lost her focus briefly. I figured it was just the stress of Special Victims getting to her. God knows it's not for everyone."

"Were you able to speak with her at all during or after the trial?" Fin asked.

"Only in the context of the trial," Petrovsky replied sadly. "It's such a shame. She was a lovely girl…"

Fin hung his head. Just like everyone else in that room, he was getting nothing more than a statement of the obvious, and nothing that would explain the mysterious murder of Gillian Hardwicke.

Meanwhile, Olivia and two other detectives from Manhattan Homicide turned the key in the lock and entered Hardwicke's office quietly. Olivia wasn't quite in full understanding as to how SVU had been given the authority to assist in the investigation of this case—it wasn't a sex crime—but wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth. Sure, she and Hardwicke hadn't grown to be close friends like she'd done with Alex and Casey, but Gillian was a good person with a strong heart and conviction rate who couldn't possibly had deserved to die.

"Let's check the desk drawers," Olivia said as she switched on the light. The men behind her nodded and followed her to the desk that sat unemptied in the vacant office.

"Why didn't they clear out this office?" the detective with jet black hair asked.

"I'm not sure. They knew she was leaving, but I guess they expected her to come back and do it herself before she left for Boston," Olivia suggested.

"Well it's a damn good thing," the other detective, sporting some sort of naval tattoo on his lower arm. "Look at the number of papers in here!"

"I'm sure they're all case files from us, but I'll look through them to be sure," Olivia volunteered. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and opened up a text message from Alex.

Home now. Expecting you back tonight?

Olivia sighed and texted her back.

No promises. Sorry. Love you.

The black haired detective chuckled. "Yeah, my wife has no idea what's going on either. I assume that's your ball and chain asking what's up, right?"

"Nah, she knows what's up. She just left the precinct. Poor thing's pretty shaken up," Olivia replied. The phone buzzed again.

Love you too. See you when I see you.

"She'll be alright though," Olivia smiled. "Now let me see those files." Each of the homicide detectives brought her a stack of files, and then returned to the desk to search the rest of the massive piece. There were several drawers, all completely full.

Olivia skimmed over the first pages of each folder, long enough to identify the name of the case as well as the outcome. Each defendant's name brought back the face of a perp, and in turn the face of one or more victims. She bit her lip; usually, once a case was over she could forget about it and move on to the next one, but this time Olivia needed to relive them all.

"Yo, Benson," the tattooed detective called out. "Looks like Hardwicke was locked and loaded." He held up a small handgun.

"A semi-automatic? Why would she need that? They've got security here," Olivia mused.

"I guess she was afraid of someone that was smart enough to evade security," he shrugged.

"But who?" Olivia picked up the pace as she fingered through the manila folders. "Remember him, remember him, remember her…wait." After several minutes of rustling, Olivia paused. "I never forget our victims' names. Twelve years and if you give me a name, I can tell you what happened to the person. But I don't remember this one." She pulled her phone back out and dialed Elliot. She tapped her fingers on the floor beside her as she waited for him to pick up.

"Stabler."

"Hey, it's me. Do you remember this case? People v. Andrew Morrison, victim's name is Jackie Stern."

"Names don't ring a bell, to be honest. Why?"

"I found this case file in Hardwicke's desk and she's listed as one of the prosecuting attorneys, but it's not our case. It's not even a special victims case."

"Wait a minute…" one of the detectives said suddenly.

"Hold on a second, El," Olivia spoke into the phone. "What?"

"I remember those names. That was a case of ours. One of our regular ADAs was on vacation and she must've been the one to stand in. The two of us never met her, that's why we didn't recognize her. But that was our case," Tattoo-Arm stated.

"I'll call you back," Olivia told Elliot. "Okay…do you remember anything remarkable about that case? For instance, why she would be brought in to try it when one of your ADAs could have easily carried it themselves?"

"I only remember that the victim's husband suddenly asked for the charges to be dropped, and when we pressed to know why, he only told us that it was for the best."

Olivia shook her head. It didn't make any sense.

"Oh, man," the other detective suddenly piped up. "Guys, check this out."

Olivia immediately stood up and walked over to where the detective was standing, staring at a piece of paper laid flat on the desk. "I found it lodged between the drawer and the desk, obviously being hidden."

"Those who know too much cannot be trusted to live to share it. Sorry, Counselor. What in the hell is this?" Olivia growled.

"I'd say a death threat," the detective said grimly.

"I'll take it for handwriting analysis," Olivia announced as she took up the letter and walked towards the door.

"Wait, Benson. There's one more thing you should know that my partner forgot."

Olivia turned. "What?"

"Jackie's husband, Brett? Dead. Single gunshot wound to the forehead."

Olivia swallowed. "Thanks."

It was nearly four in the morning when Olivia turned the key in Alex's lock. She quietly shut the door behind her, hoping to the fates that Alex had fallen asleep by this point. It was going to be a very, very long next few days for the both of them, and if the detective couldn't get a decent night's sleep the attorney still could. She kicked her shoes off and arranged them neatly on the mat next to Alex's heels. She crept towards Alex's room, too tired to worry about changing or even brushing her teeth. She'd do that in a few hours anyway. She just wanted to crawl in next to her girlfriend and drift off for a little while.

She silently pushed open the bedroom, and surely enough the blonde ADA had her eyes closed. Olivia took a moment to look Alex over. It was a night like this that she remembered how close Alex had come to meeting the same fate as Gillian Hardwicke. Yet she was here. The fighter the attorney was, every time the world knocked her down, she got up again and flipped it the bird.

Olivia pulled up the blanket and, on her side, shuffled her body underneath next to Alex until she could feel the warmth radiating off her body. She exhaled deeply, trying to let the tension of the night slip off, even if just for a little while.

"Welcome back," a soft voice suddenly said.

"You shouldn't be awake," the brunette whispered.

"And she shouldn't be dead," Alex replied, turning over to face Olivia. "Shouldn't has very little to do with anything in life."

"Come here, baby," Olivia said soothingly. Alex wrapped her leg around Olivia's, and pulled her face up next to Olivia's such that their chests fit together, rose and fell together. "I can feel your heartbeat," Olivia whispered.

"I feel yours too," Alex responded. "We're still alive."

"That's all we could possibly ask for."