A/N: Long weekends are good excuses to write lol. And since I'm probably going to be spending a good chunk of the next three days with a three year old and a five-month-old, I'd better get a chapter done while I can...

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The alarm's angry beep roused Olivia from a fitful sleep. She groaned, fitful sleeps were so rare nowadays. Shrugging off the exhaustion, she left her couch and stumbled to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Olivia was showered, changed and had brushed on a bit of makeup. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was still only 7:30. She didn't have to be at work for another half an hour, and it wasn't as if spending the day catching rapists, pedophiles and the general scum of the earth was anything to look forward to.

Olivia flopped back down on the couch with a sigh. Maybe this morning she'd actually eat...maybe she'd try to fall into a somewhat normal routine. Olivia vetoed that idea with a shake of her head. To fall into a normal routine one day, she would have had to get a normal sleep the night before, woke up looking forward to the day, and not be sleeping on her couch. She couldn't help it though. Looking at the mattress of her bed reminded her of the mattress in the basement...

No! Olivia told herself. She could not think about that. She refused to think about that. Thinking about it would make her relive it...again and again...like the nightmares did. Only in the nightmares, it wasn't Olivia in that basement. It was her mother.

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The day was slow by normal standards. The detectives were almost solely on paperwork duty, with no new cases reported. It was, in fact, so quiet and so dull that Elliot remarked that it was actually better when they were buried in work. The meeting with the FBI began to look like the light at the end of the tunnel. However, it gave them time to do something they almost never got to do – go out to lunch, the four of them. Olivia ordered a moderate amount, but the guys still found themselves surrendering the majority of their lunches to her anyway, none of them wanting to be on the receiving end of the withering glare they knew would come their way if they refused to "share".

"Damn, Stabler. Your girl sure can pack it away." Fin remarked with an admiring whistle.

Elliot's head shot up at "your girl". He glared at Fin, but Olivia seemed to have not heard him, so he thought better of commenting on that.

Olivia finally looked up from her food to Fin and Munch's nearly empty plates.

"God, guys. You finished fast."

Fin and Munch looked at each other, but to their credit managed to keep from bursting into laughter. Fin threw down a few bills and checked his watch.

"Damn, it's gotten late! We gotta get back now if we want to make that meeting on time."

With that, the detectives stood and quickly made their way back to the 16th precinct. Cragen ran to them as soon as they walked in.

"There you are! Agents Mulder and Scully are upstairs. Go over the case, theories, suspects, then reconvene tomorrow to follow any solid leads."

The detectives nodded with a bemused smile. No matter what the circumstance, Cragen always knew how to boss everyone around. That was what made him such a great captain, they guessed. God knows it's not an easy task not only dealing with sex crimes day in and day out, but keeping them in line as well was hard work. The agents left their captain in his office and ran upstairs to greet the new arrivals.

The files were already open on the table, and two figures were poring over them. They were so deeply involved in what seemed to be a debate over the validity of the case. The agents spoke quietly, but Olivia could catch snippets of what they were saying.

"...has to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this..."

"...scientists have actually theorized that there is a good chance that spirits, or ghosts, actually do exist, just not in the form that they're misconceptionalized in..."

"...Mulder, why can't you just accept the facts..."

Olivia watched with her interest piqued as the two agents argued with two very different views, but also with a clearly open mind to the other's opinion. They reminded her of the way her and Elliot used to be: arguing playfully, but ultimately in tune and open to each other. When had that stopped? Olivia was sure she didn't know, but she missed it terribly.

From behind Olivia, Munch cleared his throat loudly, causing the agents to look up.

"Agent Mulder, long time no see." Munch said jokingly, shaking the man's hand.

"Likewise, Detective Munch. By the way, Frokike, Byers and Langly told me to say hi for them," the man said jokingly as he returned the handshake. "I don't think you've met my partner, though. John Munch, this is Agent Scully." The woman stepped forward and shook Munch's hand as well.

The group greeted each other with friendly exteriors, but distrust lurked in all of them. Olivia scanned the two agents up and down, an instinct that comes with being a detective, she guessed.

Fox Mulder was a tall, lanky man, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He had an earnest, kind face, Olivia noted, but there was a dark past that seemed to hide behind his eyes. He was handsome, but seemed very reserved and guarded. He stood in stark contrast to his partner.

Dana Scully was a small woman; at least, standing next to Agent Mulder she was. She had red hair cut into a bob around her face, and big blue-green eyes, eyes that seemed lighter in spirit than Agent Mulder's, but still riddled with secrets. The most notable thing Olivia noticed about Agent Scully was how perfect she seemed. Not a hair was out of place, her nails were perfect, her eyebrows were perfectly plucked, and even her business suit was without a single wrinkle.

As a team, they strangely seemed to click. Olivia couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but they just radiated an essence that made them seem like the perfect team. Olivia's mind drifted back to her and Elliot. They used to have that too. Olivia was surprised to feel an ache of longing in her stomach. What she wouldn't give to be that in tune with someone again.

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A/N: So there you have it! Sorry there was no interaction, but I was in a hurry writing this chapter. X-Files/SVU interaction in the next one, I promise! I'm really looking forward to writing it, because I think there will be some great tension between Elliot and Mulder, since they're VERY different people. They don't strike me as two people who would get along particularly well.

For anyone confused about how Mulder and/or the Lone Gunmen know each other, see "Unusual Suspects", Season 5 of the X-Files.