She had let herself get carried away. Hyped up from the capture, coming face to face with Voight, she had forgotten. Where she was. Who he was. What the hell it was she was supposed to be doing.

She knew better. This whole blasted time this had worked because she knew better.

Because she hadn't known better. Seeing Olivia Benson at Voight's door had changed more than she wanted to admit.

It had been hours. Once in custody, they were able to identify the man. Reach in to recesses of his life and learn the hows, the whys.

It was still too sick to make sense.

His name was Renaldo Higuera. He worked as a consultant for a security firm. He traveled constantly, often under the name of the client company they were servicing. Virtually untraceable. His mother, Benson discovered, was a beautician that had been committed to a psych ward after multiple suicide attempts. His biological father was a white male who had assaulted his Hispanic mother. In his mind, he was helping the woman he took by getting them away from the men who hurt them.

It tied it all up in one disgusting bow.

Most cases they never got all the answers. They got enough for trial and let the court run its course but this one, she almost wished it hadn't come together so perfectly.

There was some things she wished she didn't have to know.

She was finishing inputting her report when Voight and Benson stepped out of his office. Benson smiled, and Lana fairly felt the relief coming off of her. She had a way about her that settled over the room. Voight's presence took sharp command. Benson's blanketed it. There was authority but there was warmth there too.

They made a perfectly balanced team.

And for one twisted second she wondered if Benson let Voight do what he wanted. If she saw that rough side of him, or if he poured it out in random strangers at a bar because he couldn't bring it home.

"Hey."

Lana looked up, surprised to find Rodney approaching her desk. He had changed out of the shirt she had soaked, into a casual button up that pulled out the blue of his eyes. Mussed brown hair held just the hint of red, and he grinned at her.

"You really went all out, huh. Just had to embarrass me like that?" he laughed, and Lana shrugged, switching off her computer as she stood.

"Well we needed to make a scene." She let a smile slip through, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"So I was thinking," his thumbs waggled, "that maybe you should buy me a drink. Make it up to me."

Lana smirked, "I'm fairly certain I already gave you a drink."

Olivia's quiet chuckle made her keenly aware of how close she and Voight were. That they were hearing every word.

The way she had stayed, pressed and staring against Voight flared to mind, and she shoved it aside with a rush of embarrassment. She straightened her spine, and slipped her bag over her shoulder.

"So I think you actually owe me one." Her eyes didn't flicker to Voight as she said it, they stayed fixed and friendly on the officer in front of her.

He smiled, eyes lighting in a way that made her want to laugh.

Voight watched them walk out together, and Olivia nudged his arm.

"I thought you liked Officer Rodney."

"Yeah, he seems like a fine officer."

"Then why are you scowling at him like that?" Olivia's fingers rested on her forearm as she folded her arms.

Voight's shoulders moved. "You know I don't like relationships at work."

Olivia's look said that was laughable. "Unless of course it's Erin. or Burgess."

Voight turned his scowl on her and she chuckled.

"Besides," she let her hands find her hips, relaxing against the edge of Lana's desk, "That isn't interoffice. Rodney doesn't work for you."

"Milani does." Voight countered, though he knew there wasn't an argument there, and Olivia ignored it.

"How's she doing here?"

Voight's brow bounced once at the unexpected question. "She does the job well. Seems to get along with everyone."

"So it's a good fit?"

Voight crossed his arms, "Yeah, I'd say so. Why?"

Olivia smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. A friend called my department, said they had an officer looking to transfer who could be a serious asset. I didn't have a place for her so I suggested here with you. It's good to see that it's working out."

Voight was just looking at her, shaking his head in a slow way that showed he wasn't even aware of it, before he laughed.

"You got Milani transferred here?" He laughed again, shoving his hands in his pockets, he rocked on his toes.

"Yeah, and after her performance today I'd say you owe me one. I was impressed."

Voight smirked, "Alright I owe you one. How 'bout I buy you a drink?"

Olivia shook her head with a smile, "I would, but I got to get some sleep. I fly out first thing. Besides," she touched his arm as she pushed off from the desk, "We don't want to give Ruzek any more fuel for gossip."

Voight chuckled, and patted her hand on his arm. "Alright, I'll walk you out."

Lana leaned against the bar, half listening to Rodney's story. He was funny, she'd give him that. But there was something boyish about the way he grinned that she just couldn't shake. It might have been endearing, a sweet trait to a very attractive man, but she just wasn't feeling it.

She ordered one more drink, then let a yawn slip out.

"Sorry, I'm just worn out after today." She smiled sheepishly and he reacted immediately.

"Oh, of course. I've always been a late-nighter, I didn't realize the time."

He handed her her bag after she shrugged on her coat, offered to walk her home but she waved him off.

"No, stay, have another drink. I think you earned it."

He laughed, and held her gaze before she turned away. "This was fun. We should do it again."

Lana smiled. It wasn't a yes. It wasn't a no. And she left the bar for the cold unsettling edge of night.

"Hey, so how'd it go with Lana last night," Ruzek caught Rodney as he came in the next morning, and he watched the officer shrug.

"I don't know, we were having a good time, then she just kind of left. It wasn't even that late."

"Huh," Ruzek went to respond, then caught sight of Voight behind them, his irritated look questioning why they were blocking the stairs.

"Well hey, try her again, see what she says," he slapped Rodney's arm and took the stairs, quickly scanning in and getting out of Voight's way.

Voight returned to his office, setting down the file he had been retrieving from Platt. He'd been here about an hour now, and Milani wasn't in yet. Shift hadn't technically started, but she was usually early. His first thought had gone straight to the officer who had walked her out yesterday.

She hadn't called, hadn't showed up at his door last night to burn off that energy he had collided with yesterday. He couldn't help but wonder if Rodney had helped with that. If they had stayed out late, gone home together. If she had stayed over and woken up in his shirt.

Over hearing Rodney, that had been a cold kind of comfort, and a distraction he didn't need.

Lana had overslept. Not difficult considering she hadn't fallen asleep until two a.m., but she was irritated beyond measure as she rushed up the office stairs. She was never this irresponsible.

She reached the top just as Antonio tried to come down them and a quick side step on his part avoided an awkward collision.

"Good morning," his chuckle was warm and she paused long enough to give him an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry. Running late."

Antonio glanced at his watch. "Nah, there's still a minute before shift, you got plenty of time."

He sent her a friendly wink before jogging down the stairs, and Lana caught her breath before stepping into the office.

Voight was standing by her desk. Back to her, he was saying something to Olinsky but she swallowed the flash of irritation and moved to her desk.

"Good morning, sir," she set her bag down and didn't really look up for a reply. Finding out about Benson had been a blessing in disguise. It was enough to snap her out of continuing this stupid game with Voight. She had let it go on long enough. She was here to focus on her work, be an impartial subordinate like she should have been from day one.

"Milani," Voight acknowledged her good morning, and stepped into his office to grab his file and bring them in on a new case.

It was business as usual, track down leads and feed intel to the team. She worked til five and clocked out with the others, nodded a goodbye to Voight as she passed by. A perfectly normal, professional day.

She walked home feeling strangely dissatisfied.

Voight looked up from his desk at the sound of someone arriving in the office. It was the third time this week Lana had come in early. She would drop her purse in the office, sometimes without even knowing he was there, hit the gym down stairs before cleaning up and clocking in. Clearly she had energy to burn, she just wasn't doing it with him, and he couldn't help but wonder why.

He had no claim on her, no actual right to care how she spent her time as long as it didn't affect her work. And it hadn't. She had been a text book employee all week, to the point Ruzek had joked that she'd been replaced with a robot. She was professionally pleasant and got her work done, but in some ways it was like she wasn't really there.

He wouldn't mind it, he usually respected officers who didn't bring their drama into the workplace, but the distance in her eyes had him continuously that much more on edge.

What he should be was pleased. He knew this had become a bad idea the night he decided he was done running to her for distraction. Not that that had stopped anything, she had still gotten under his skin. But he hadn't really expected her to stop coming to him. He figured maybe it hadn't been long enough, and she'd show up after a particularly hard shift and put them right back where they started. But somehow he knew that wasn't going to happen. Something had changed.

And he didn't have a blasted idea what it was.

She was back from the gym, fifteen minutes before shift and he stepped out of the office and caught her searching her bag with a frustrated growl. She set it down when she saw him, hands meeting her desk with a dejected sigh.

"I forgot my coffee."

"You usually keep it in your purse?" His tone was wry and she sent him a look.

"I used a thermos this morning, I was hoping maybe I tossed it in here, but I know I left it on my counter."

She dropped into her chair, hands gesturing in agitation, "I can see it, right by my toaster. I set it down to grab my phone and never picked it back up."

"Hmm," Voight hummed, before moving into the break room. Lana was still muttering. He hadn't seen her this talkative in well, ever. But when he set a fresh cup of coffee on her desk she stopped talking.

She looked up at him in surprise, and he shrugged. "I had a pot on."

"Oh, thanks." Her words were just a fraction drawn out like she didn't know how to take this. And Voight's gaze switched over her expression for a searching moment.

"You alright, Milani?" She seemed flustered, and the unexpected question didn't help.

"Yes sir," she answered automatically. Her phone buzzed and her gaze dropped to it, like she knew who was messaging her and it put something in her eye. A defensive edge like the last thing she wanted to do was answer it in front of him.

Voight hummed again. "Enjoy the coffee." And he left her to whoever was on the other end of that phone.

Lana read the text preview, hit clear without bothering to open the text. It was the last thing she had expected last night. The last thing she wanted to deal with this morning.

An out of the blue text from her old partner.

Just a hey how you been

A hey just checking in

But she didn't know what to say. She couldn't ignore him forever, and yeah, part of her wanted to talk to him. But part of her wanted to turn off her phone and pretend it never happened.

Her gaze went to the closed office door to her right

She was good at pretending things like that.

Getting started on a report, she didn't stop until shift was in full swing. Then Erin plopped on the corner of her desk and asked her for a favor.

Burgess had asked her on a girl's night and Erin wasn't up for the whole shebang. Kim was nice but some of the officers she hung with were really talkative and Erin got exhausted just thinking about it.

"It'll be fun, you should come. Get to know them a little better and you can be my buffer."

"oh, I don't know..." Lana hesitated, and Erin nudged her arm.

"First round's on me."

Lana laughed. "Alright. I'll come for a little while."

Erin smiled her thanks as she hopped off the desk and strolled away. Lana pulled in a breath. She liked Erin well enough, and maybe she could use a girl's night.

They made plans to meet up at six, which gave Lana enough time after work to run home and change. She was tempted just to wear what she had worn to the office, but business casual didn't really scream 'I'm here to have fun."

She stepped into Molly's, looking around for Erin or Burgess. It was a full night, and she saw more than a few officers she had seen at the precinct.

"Daaaaag girl. I almost didn't recognize you," Erin came up from the side, she put a drink in Lana's hand and looked her over with a nod. "Oh you're gonna have some fun tonight, come on."

Lana's green halter top shimmered just enough to catch the eye, outlined a narrow waist and hips she couldn't get rid of no matter how hard she tried, but of all the eyes on her, no one was complaining.

She'd left her hair down, barely bothered to run a brush through it, and it held a wild kind of wave that framed the way she walked. Lana was exactly the kind of knockout Erin liked having by her side. She didn't like being the center of attention, and with Milani looking like she did right now, that wasn't going to happen. But she liked the edge of the spot light; she could hold her own there. They joined the rest of the girls at the bar, and as Burgess threw back a shot, Erin was suddenly glad she had come.

Kim introduced the other girls, a Katie and Alicia that Lana didn't remember seeing before but that wasn't too surprising. They'd come for a good time and they weren't afraid to have it, much to the enjoyment of a table of firemen nearby.

Alicia caught sight of a cute blonde one, apparently going steady with Antonio's sister, and when Erin ducked into the restroom, she leaned in.

"That's him, right? He's the reason your boss doesn't come here?"

Lana looked over at the fireman, not understanding. "You mean Voight? He doesn't come here?"

Burgess interrupted Alicia before she could get too deep into gossip.

"Yeah. Voight stays away from here ever since Casey helped send him to prison."

Lana was still hearing the sounds of the bar around her, but they weren't registering.

"Voight... prison?"

Burgess shook her head, "I really shouldn't be surprised you don't know that, but I am."

"For what?" Lana couldn't not react to that information, and Erin suddenly spoke from behind her.

"Ask Antonio," her husky voice held a tone that quickly closed the conversation. "He made the arrest." She reclaimed her seat and flagged down the bartender for another drink like nothing had happened. Alicia gave an 'oh well' shrug and downed another shot.

Lana held her glass but didn't drink. She was processing.

Voight. In prison.

Why

"Hey ladies, mind if we join?" Rodney sent the group a charming smile as he approached, Jay giving a small wave from behind the man, and Erin hopped off her stool.

"Well this is supposed to be a girl's night," she said as she slipped her arms around Jay's neck, "But I think we can make an exception."

Rodney claimed the stool she had vacated and sent Lana a sidelong glance.

"You look great." Direct and clearly flirtatious, and Lana blinked before responding.

"Thanks," she shook it off, took a sip of her drink, and leaned in a little. She had come here to relax and have fun. No way was she losing sight of that.

She almost let him walk her home. It was nice of him to ask and it would have given her an excuse not to look at her phone that much longer, but then she pictured him at her door, saying goodnight, smile bright and warm in the dark and she shook her head.

She stepped out of the bar and finally checked her phone.

Look Lani, we need to talk.

Her head fell back as she stared up into a dark sky, high above the street lights. She pulled in cool night air on a long breath.

Then looking down, she finally typed out a reply.

She never hit send.