The sexual tension between Olivia and Elliot was thick enough to cut with a bullet—and the one out of Cragen's gun did just that. The detectives' cop instincts jumped into action and both dove behind the desks. Olivia dared to glance away from the chaos and over her shoulder to check on her partner. His eyes met hers and they fell into the familiar movements.

Elliot at that moment also recalled his partner's hips grinding into his, the rocking and the intensity, an exchange of strength almost as familiar as the detectives' motions in battle.

The men were distracted by the rain of bullets from behind them, and in an instant all five were on the ground. The man who was doing the talking was squirming on the ground, only shot in the leg, reaching for his dropped gun.

Olivia took advantage of this moment and took control of the man, took control of the situation like she always does. Elliot jumped to her aid, but only then did he realize the blood pooling on the ground next to him.

Pulling up his pantleg, he discovered he had been lightly grazed by one of the bullets in the melee, and hadn't even realized it with the adrenaline pumping through his body. Working on instinct, he ripped his shirt off and wrapped it around his leg to stop the flow of blood. "I'm hit, nothing serious, don't freak out."

Olivia looked up, straddling and cuffing the man and laughing to herself. "You just can't keep those clothes on tonight."

Cragen called for a bus and began to walk around the precinct, assessing the damage. He cuffed the four men still alive; all shot purposely in non-fatal places so that answers could be had from them.

One man hadn't been as lucky, shot in the head after ducking to react from the first gunshot. For the other men, Cragen handed them sheets from the crib to staunch the blood flow. Eventually ambulances came and the men were loaded off and Elliot patched up by EMS. Cragen instructed the men who came with him to go check the building for more thugs following them.

"So, you want to explain to us how you just saved our asses?" Elliot asked the Captain.

"As I was walking out of the building I saw the men go in through the back alley. Five men walking into a precinct at three in the morning is never a real good sign, so I rounded up some men who were on patrol a few blocks away and came up to check it out. And it's a damn good thing I did."

"Yeah. Well…" Elliot tried to distract himself from the captain's judgmental looks, shuffling some papers around at his desk.

"I'm going home. And I think you two would be wise to do so as well." Cragen walked into his office, bringing out two small pistols. "Take these; lord only knows what will happen next. And I won't be there to have your back. I'll see you in the morning."

Without another word, he stepped into the waiting elevator and went home.

Olivia was once again left with a shirtless Elliot and a confused heart. He handed her a gun and beckoned with two fingers for her to follow him into the elevator, wordless. She remembered she was still wearing those goddamn stripper heels. She limped into the elevator after him, and at the bottom he called a lone cab wandering the street.

"I'll ride home with you, just to…make sure you're alright, you know."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, El. It's me. We're partners, we're…we know each other."

He didn't want to talk about being partners, or about who they were to each other, because all of that involved consequences. He wanted to be with her. To let himself be absorbed by that dark and mysterious beauty that surrounded her, that darkness that suddenly turned to light when she smiled.

He walked her to her apartment door and she invited him in for tea. Tea, after all that they had just been through? He wasn't eager to take the long cab ride home just to drive back in the morning. He wasn't eager to lie alone in his bed and try to forget the rocking of those hips.

He walked in the door behind her but she didn't make tea. She went to her bedroom, changed into fresh clothes, and jerked her head, motioning for him to join her.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. Olivia unbuttoned and took off his pants, with no sexual intentions. The gesture was for his comfort, and struck him as so familiar and intimate. She climbed into bed and he came to lay next to her. They were silent.

Elliot's breath was gentle on her neck, and with his arm protectively over her body, Olivia fell asleep.