"Liv wake up" Elliot called into the crib.

"I'm up" Olivia said as she sat up quickly and slid her feet into her shoes. She grabbed her service weapon and badge from under the pillow and quickly clipped them to her belt. "What do we have?"

"Hopefully a break in this damn case." Elliot said as he started down the stairs "A witness finally came forward with a partial license plate."

"Wait" Olivia said stopping in her tracks "You woke me for a partial license plate. Elliot what the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about that little girl that's in the hands of the sick sadistic bastards whose doing god knows what to her right now." He said spinning around and closing the gap between them

"AND I'M NOT" Olivia shouted at him.

"I WONDER"

"YOU BASTARD." She spat out as she pushed him from her "I have been here night and day don't tell me I'm not thinking about that little girl."

"Which is apparently too long together." Cragen said as he separated the two detectives "Fin take him out. Munch take her. Everyone take a few go home shower get a decent meal in you."

"Capt the case." Elliot said as he struggled to free himself from Fin's grasp.

"TARU is running the plates. I will man the phones." Cragen said leaving no room for arguments "We have been going nonstop since Monday at three when the call came in. It is now Friday at noon. We haven't had a decent meal since lunch on Monday and by the smell of everyone no one has showered since Wednesday so please for the sake of everyone here go home shower, grab a decent meal and maybe a decent nap."

"What the hell happened here?' Alex asked as she walked into the bull pen. Elliot was struggling against Fin to break free and Olivia was giving Elliot looks to kill.

"Nothing" Olivia growled out as she broke free from Munch's hold and stormed out of the bull pen.

"It certainly doesn't look like nothing' Alex said as she watched Olivia leave wishing she could chase after her and fix whatever was wrong.

"Welcome to the 16 when we have lived here all week." Cragen said as he stepped forward "They haven't had a decent night's sleep since Sunday and who knows when was the last time they had a decent meal to eat. Now what brings you down here?"

"I was going to see where we were and if you needed anything." Alex said glancing at the door that Olivia had ran out of.

"She'll be ok'

"Who?"

"Benson."

Alex spun around and stared at Cragen as if he had two heads. That was when she realized that she had been staring at the door that Olivia had taken off out of. If she was honest with herself she wanted to follow her and make sure she was ok, take care of her. Try to give her the security that she had given her the other night in the bathroom. In essence a way to thank her for keeping what happened the other night a secret.

"You kept staring at the door. Benson will be ok trust me." Cragen said as he motioned her to follow him "Unless you needed to speak to her about something?"

"No I didn't." Alex said as she took a seat in Cragen's office.

"Want to tell me what's bothering you?"

"Nothing"

"Alex please, you have been with us long enough for me to tell when there is something wrong. I can tell by the look on your face that there's something bothering you."

"I don't see how they go like they have this past week.'

Cragen looked at her with a puzzled look on his face.

"This is the first *major case* if you will that they've worked since I've been with the unit. It amazes me how they run on no sleep, no food, no.. no nothing. They are running on nothing. If I don't get at least six hours of sleep a night I become the wicked witch of the east."

"Its something you learn early in your career.' Cragen said as he pulled a small glass and a bottle of scotch from his desk drawer and pouring some in the glass before sliding it over to her "As you advance you learn to extend your time of no sleep, food, or anything else for that matter. I promise you each and every one of them when they were rookies probably couldn't last past twenty-four hours and now they can go almost ninety-six hours without sleep."

"But that can't be good for them." Alex said almost to herself as she took the drink that Captain Cragen offered her.

"Truthfully no its not but in this career especially this division you do what you have to. Thank the lord above though cases like this are few and far between. As bad as it sounds its almost a blessing to get the *routine* rape cases as if there is ever such a thing."

"This can't be good on their marriages?"

"Your right its not. Elliot refuses to talk about work at home . He is trying his best to keep his world from home which causes him and Kathy, his wife, to fight more often than not. Munch has been married and divorced three times and one look in his eyes you can tell he's given up on love. Fin well, he has a son that he doesn't know an ex-wife that probably has a contract hit out on him at the moment. Olivia, well, she hasn't had a meaningful relationship in years. Most of the time it's a few quick dates here and there. She has dedicated her life to the job and the victims."

"What about you?" Alex asked noticing he had left himself out. "And why didn't you have a drink with me?"

"Me" Captain Cragen took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly "Well I didn't have a drink with you because I'm in AA. I buried myself in the bottle after my wife died.'

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be its funny actually. I was cleaning the walls on the pool, the one that landed me in hot water with IA. How dare someone on a cops salary have an in ground pool. She begged me for, I wound up being under investigation for close to four months and yet we hardly used it. Anyways, I'm cleaning the pool when I received the call that she was so scared of getting. Her plane went down not long after takeoff. No survivors. The next thing I know I'm sitting in my living room trying to make sense of the color scheme on my new big screen TV. Another thing she wanted but we really couldn't afford. So not long after that I discovered that I could drink till I didn't feel the pain. It worked for a while until my drinking started interfering with my job. I had to get help or lose the last thing I had left. I've been going to meetings for over ten years now."

"wow. Knowing what you know and been where you've been don't you worry about them."

"Every second of every day, Alex. My door is always open and the phone is always on. My guys know they can call me or come to me anytime. I have driven them home when they were too drunk to walk. Not long before you came I arranged a transfer for a detective Cassidy. I take care of my guys. We're family and family looks out for each other. Alex that goes for you too."

Alex's head shot up and stared at Captain Cragen. She couldn't believe that Olivia had told the captain how could she have been so wrong about her. Then again she was wrong about Jess as well. She had been so sweet, loving, attentive, and caring. Then she showed her true colors.

'Don't look so shocked Alex.' Cragen said as he stood "You may not wear blue but you work with us. In our line of work that's all it takes."

"Thank you Captain." Alex said taken back "It means a lot to me believe me. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to work and I'm sure you do to."

Cragen simply nodded as Alex stood and left his office. He watched her walk out of the bull pen and wondered what was going on with her. She turned pale as a ghost when he said he was there for her to as if he had discovered some big dark secret. One that she wanted remained buried. One that if he had his way would remain buried until she came to him.

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows. That means a lot. I did change a few things up from the show. I had Cragen have the talk with Alex that Liv had with Casey . It seemed fitting there. I hope everyone has enjoyed it so far and likes where I am taking it. As always reviews are welcomed.