Olivia felt dead on her feet. If she wasn't desperate to see Elliot, she would have gone home to sleep before heading to the hospital. Maybe after she saw him she could get some rest. Maybe.

Once McGrath finished his tirade, and stormed out of her office, she laid her head on her desk. Her head felt so damn heavy. She needed to get a ride to the hospital. She lifted her head just enough to view the screen of her phone. She should get an Uber now, otherwise she might fall asleep at her desk. She ordered the Uber and slid her phone into her purse. She lifted her tired body from the chair and headed for the elevator, hoping no one would stop her before she could escape.

The Uber driver gave her the side eye as she slipped into the back seat. The guy probably thought she was wasted first thing in the morning. Judgy bastard. She almost laughed at herself. The guy probably didn't think anything of the middle aged woman nearly falling over in his backseat. It probably wasn't even the weirdest thing he'd encountered that morning.

By some miracle, she was able to stay awake and remain upright for the duration of the ride to the hospital. As she made her way down the hall she texted Fin to meet her so she could give him instructions for work. She hoped Elliot was sleeping, and she didn't want to wake him if he was finally getting some rest.

Just as she came around the corner, Fin opened the door and stepped into the hallway. He made his way towards her and gripped her upper arm when she looked like she might topple. "Damn girl. You look like hell…"

She rolled her eyes. "Who's fault is that?" Referring to dragging her into work in the middle of the night.

He grinned at the sass. "Stabler's?" He tried with a cheeky smile.

"Okay, yeah," she admitted. "I guess it's a little bit his fault," she yawned. "Check in at the precinct. Let Bruno run things and get some sleep for a few hours." He had been up most of the night too, but she was going on several days with only minimal sleep so she was a lot worse off than he was.

"Sure thing boss." He winked and she laughed.

"Get out of here." She waved him off and reached for the door handle.

Before leaving he turned back towards her. "Get some sleep Liv," he encouraged.

"I will," she promised.

-000-

Jet drummed her fingers against her desk. It probably would have been faster to just hack the federal databases, but she had a feeling Bell would frown on that. Once the federal government got their bureaucratic asses to work, she was granted access to a collection of nationwide databases. She used the databases in conjunction with her facial recognition software and began scanning DMVs state by state.

It all took way longer than she wanted, but she finally found their would-be assassin's name and basic information. She printed off her findings and rushed to Bell's office with the information.

Her sergeant had passed out in her office, leaving Whelan babysitting their suspect. Reyes had to show his face at home for at least a couple hours, but he'd be back before too long. They were all starting to feel a little burned out and deflated. Hopefully her findings could invigorate their tapped out task force. Jet rapped on Bell's open office door before entering.

Bell's head popped up from her desk. "Found something?" She immediately jumped into action, not missing a beat.

Jet held out the papers fresh from the printer. Bell took them, blinked her eyes a couple of times before reading out loud.

"Alexander Lowe…from Vermont? Seriously?" Bell's voice held the same incredulous quality that Jet felt. She wasn't sure she heard of anything threatening coming out of Vermont. "He's 32. Lived in Vermont his entire adult life…I mean he looks like the guy, but are we sure it's the same person?" Jet understood her hesitance. It wasn't the profile they thought they were looking for.

"This is as sure as I get," Jet reiterated. "I mean, we could always DNA swab him, but dude doesn't have a criminal record so we won't have anything to compare it to."

Bell shook her head. "No. We can work with this." She stood and hurried past Jet as she made her way back into interrogation. Jet followed. Bell reached for the door knob but before she opened the door, she added, "send that info to Stabler. Maybe the name will jog his memory."

"Sure thing Sarge." Bell entered the interrogation room, and Jet found her way back to her desk, texting Elliot the information as she went.

-000-

Olivia opened the hospital door quietly. The room was darkened, and Elliot appeared to be asleep. She held in the emotional cry attempting to rise from her chest. He was alive, and he was okay. An overwhelming sense of relief blanketed over her.

She shuffled towards the bed, each step felt heavy, like she was dragging herself along. The adrenaline that had helped keep her awake waned and she felt her knees begin to weaken. She toed off her shoes and tossed her blazer onto the nearby chair. Her blouse followed suit, leaving her in a basic tank top and slacks.

She noticed a fuzzy blanket folded on the chair next to the hospital bed. She reached for it before she slid into the bed next to Elliot. She tucked the blanket around them both as she settled in tightly into his side.

She sighed in relief. He was breathing. His heart was beating. He was okay. She savored the warmth of his body, and couldn't help but drop a kiss to his upper arm. God, she loved him, and she didn't want to imagine her life without him in it. Again.

She settled into him a little more, and her movements must have woken him because he stirred a little before his eyes opened. She was touched by the immediate flood of affection that washed over his countenance. "Hey," he whispered. He still sounded groggy. His hand lifted so he could drop it around her, letting his fingers brush through her hair.

"Hey," she returned. "Go back to sleep," her own eyes felt heavy. "You need rest," she advised. It was a habit, telling others what to do, and not caring for herself.

He gave her a sleepy grin. It seemed like he knew her thoughts. "You need to take care of yourself sometimes, Benson." He shifted his weight so she laid against his shoulder. His lips found hers in a sweet heart pounding greeting. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to the feeling of his lips moving against hers. It was everything.

She sighed when he broke the kiss, and snuggled her head down into his chest. She felt herself drifting almost immediately. She wanted to say something quippy in return, but her mind was basically mush. Her only awareness was the feeling of his lips in her hair as she dropped off into sleep.

-000-

Elliot vaguely remembered Olivia sliding into bed with him that morning. He'd been pretty groggy, and he made a mental note to ask the nurses to stop spiking in his IV line with sedatives.

He tightened his arm around her, and placed a kiss on the top of her head. She was zonked out completely, and he felt a little bad for the role he'd played in her exhaustion. It wasn't like he planned on getting stabbed, but he'd kept her up the previous nights working out their long history of shit. He brushed his fingers through her hair and watched her for a moment while she slept. 25 years later and she was still as beautiful as the day he'd met her. She had grown into a more responsible and less reckless person, but she was still Liv. His partner. The person he'd fallen in love with all those years ago.

The sound of his phone buzzing broke through the fog of sleep and he reached for the device. Jet had texted him with a document attachment. He slid the Lock Screen open, and held his phone in one hand because his other arm was wrapped tightly around Olivia's sleeping frame.

He clicked the attachment and a DMV document loaded. Who the hell was Alexander Lowe? He zoomed in on the photo, and sure enough, that was the man who seemed hellbent on killing him. But why? He still had no idea who this guy was. But there was something about the name and the face that looked familiar. He couldn't place him though. It was like he was an extraneous person living in the periphery of a long lost memory. Who the hell was this guy?

He texted Jet.

E: I'm still drawing a blank.

J: Damn your old man memory.

E: I'm not THAT old.

J: Yeah, but all the head injuries you got on the job probably made your brain turn to mush at this point.

E: thanks for your undying support.

J: Yep.

E: I feel like I SHOULD know him.

J: Well yeah. Of course you should remember a guy who wants to kill you…

E: Not like that. I'm sure I don't know him, but maybe he was an outlier in a case?

J: Dude's spent his entire life in Vermont. Not sure you two crossed paths often.

E: He had to have come to the city before. You working a background check?

J: Yep. But don't get too excited. This guy's as boring as they come. Get this. He's an accountant.

E: Criminal accountant?

J; No, like send your tax forms to the IRS every year accountant.

E: Okay. That's not promising. But there has to be a connection somewhere.

J: Or the guy went barshit crazy and randomly fixated on you.

E: Seems unlikely.

J: You have any better ideas?

E: Nope. What else you got there? Family? College graduate? Employment history?

J: I'm telling you. This guy is as dull as they come! He's worked for the same company since he graduated from the University of Vermont. The guy didn't even leave the date for college…

E: Okay. What's the family life like then?

J: Boring. Never married. No kids. His parents are dead. He had two brothers but they are both deceased.

E: Maybe it's not about him. How did his brothers and parents die?

J: Looks like parents died of natural causes. His older brother died in a drunk driving accident and his younger brother…. Oh my God. Call me right now.