Sorry, it's obviously been like months… but here we go!

Sadly, I don't own any of them. They are forever bound to Dick Wolf and his imagination.

The awkward and dorky ideas belong to me Collette Daniela©

"What the hell."

"What the fucking hell."

"You won't solve this riddle, it's too damn clear." Elliot said. "So what? He's got him in a bar? Liqour store? He using his alcoholism against him?"

"Elliot. When I came home late last week, Cragen had taken me to Bubble World. That girly, fritzy bar. Said I needed to calm down after he sent you home because I almost broke your nose…"

"With your fist, yeah I remember." Guess that was all sexual tension huh? After all, I could only stay at her place so long before we're both in agony. But not anymore. Unless she never returns the "I love you".

"Well, on our way out there was this guy who followed us for a few blocks, but he eventually turned a corner so we thought nothing of it. What if he heard us talking?

What if he heard what Cragen…"

She shot out of her seat, too rushed to snatch her coat. Elliot ran right past it as he caught up to her as the elevator door opened. They entered in sync and he grabbed hold of her hand. Forcefully but with grace. Olivia had a flashback to her first high school date. Stupid kid tried to hold my hand. He should have been more worried about holding his pants up. Doofus.

Elliot interrupted her thoughts, ignoring their hands like he'd done it a hundred times before. "What did Cragen say, Liv?"

"He brought up the case again, said he had just figured out the riddle written on the little boy's bedroom wall."

"What belongs to you but others use it more than you do? What did Cragen figure out?"

"He didn't tell me. And I know why. He knew it was him next. Why didn't he tell us?"

"Maybe him being taken will lead us to the boy."

"I know where that boy's at. It's been a week, what are the chances he's still alive?"

Elliot ignored her question. "Son of a bitch wanted to get caught all along. Liv where are we going?"

"Pub on 22nd. Captain's Lounge. It was closed a few weeks ago for invalid licenses. The little boy was just bait. He wrote the riddle for Cragen to figure out. He just wants Cragen."

They pulled up to the shut down bar and tried a few times to kick in the barred door. Elliot watched as Oliva slid off her high heels and smashed the entire window pane with it. Elliot lifted her over and through the broken window, trying not to cut her. Liv maneuvered the door open and Elliot ducked in. Guns out, they called for anyone, Cragen, the boy, anyone at all.

"Clear."

"Clear. Fuck." Olivia was pissed.

"Liv, stairs!"

They dropped down the stairs into a musty cellar. Elliot heard pounding and flashed around, aiming at the wall.

"It's a door, Elliot help me."

All that they had to break was padlock was Olivia's heel. It snapped off this time, but it opened the door and revealed a dead body, a paled, shivering boy, and the Captain.

In the hospital, while he was getting checked out, Cragen was explaining that he carries a second gun, a pistol. When the perp, Abner, frisked him, he only found Cragen's "work" gun.

"As soon as it was safe, which by that time we were in the locked room, I pulled the pistol on him. After he said he wouldn't let the boy go he lunged at me and I shot him. We couldn't have lasted much longer in there," the Captain explained. He turned to Olivia, who by then had on Elliot's coat, one shoe, and a look in her eyes that he had never seen in her before. "Liv."

She looked up and whispered, "Yeah?"

He nodded his head at her. She had tears in her eyes from the story but smiled back at him.

"You almost done, El?"

"Just signing the last form. And done. You ready? You want to grab a bite or just head home?" He asked as they both left their signed DD5 forms in the paper tray.

"Please, home. I just want to go home."

It was silent in the car. Dead silence. Even the cabs and honking and sirens seemed to be quite for Olivia and her headache.

The doors slammed shut. She followed him up to her own apartment. He unlocked do the door and let her slide in. He followed her straight into her bedroom, closed the blinds and straightened up her bed. He watched her pull her shirt over her head from behind. His heart was racing too hard. He found his way around the bed and out the door and into the bathroom. He locked the door and changed into his NYPD issued sweatpants. He brushed his teeth and took a drink of room temperature water. He hurt. Liv. Benson. Olivia. Please, God. Please. He didn't want to go back out there. He'd wanted to see her like that so many times; he had in so many dreams. He had, too many times while he was wide awake. Kathy. I loved you. For a year. I never got to date you. I never got to fall in love with you. It happened too fast. I never ever was with anyone but you. Not before you, not during us. I'm not coming back home. I'm homeless. I'm stuck and I'm homeless. I'm putting down my deposit on my new apartment in the morning, before Liv wakes up.

Olivia's knock startled his thoughts. He opened the door, looked at her tear-stained face and puffy eyes. He held her arms down at her side and just looked at her. Loved her. Breathed her in. He lifted her up in the most gentle embrace. They took a deep breath at the same time, and they both felt it. There was a shift. A good shift, a casual shift. He let her go and headed to the living room. She leaned against the door frame, wondering how much a person could love without exploding. She checked her watch. 12:01 AM.