After some intense coordination with the hospital Ayanna and Fin managed to get Elliot and Olivia situated in an overflow room. It was not anywhere close to typical hospital procedure, but because of the external threat in both officers lives, the hospital accommodated their needs. Both squads were short staffed, and keeping one team member there (rather than two) would be incredibly helpful. Unfortunately for Ayanna, Elliot was in foul mood.

"We don't need a babysitter," he insisted.

Ayanna pinched the bridge of her nose, and counted to three. Sometimes working with this man was like working with a stubborn toddler. "You're going to need a babysitter if you're going to be a baby." Ayanna threw the words at her friend, but then softened her tone. "Look, You two are sitting ducks. It's not like you can lift a firearm." She let her eyes drift between the two and then shook her head. "I'm not trusting some inexperienced uni with your lives, and you are not staying here without a way to defend yourself. Because if it wasn't clear…someone wants you both dead."

Elliot muttered something unintelligible.

"It's fine El," Olivia clearly intended to keep the peace, but Elliot still needed to argue.

"No. Both our teams are short handed. We don't need someone here just watching us. They would be much more useful somewhere else!"

Ayanna wanted to scream. She knew some of his defiance was in response to the current state of their relationship, but the man could be so damn infuriating.

Benson seemed to sense Ayanna's frustration and turned her focus on Stabler. Her dark eyes remained on his long enough for Ayanna to feel a little disconcerted. She felt like she was missing some kind of conversation, or a fierce battle of wills. Stabler never backed down for anyone…except Olivia Benson.

He groaned, finally giving in to Bensons silent demands. "Okay, Fine." He gritted his teeth like the idea pained him.

"Thank you," Ayanna said in relief. "The hospital is doing us a favor by letting you two stay together in their overflow room. This is the best possible situation. Unsurprisingly, neither of them argued. Ayanna's eyes flicked to Elliot, "Jet's up first. She should be here any time now."

-000-

Jet tried keeping her eyes on the screen and not on the couple in front of her. She didn't want them to think she was eavesdropping…even though she was sitting right there. She could obviously hear everything. Not like they seemed to care.

"I know it's not the case. It can't be," Elliot argued. He tried folding his arms, but the movement of his shoulder made him wince.

"El, I want to believe that, but we have to keep our options open. Can't you consider for a moment that what we were doing was a little stupid," Benson's voice exuded pure logic as she removed the emotion from the equation.

"Is that what you think? It wasn't worth the risk? I wasn't worth the risk?" Jet rolled her eyes. He could be such a drama queen. Her eyes remained plastered to the screen, hoping they would leave her out of this "discussion".

Benson groaned in utter frustration. "That's not what I'm saying and you know it." Her words were clipped and had bite to them. "I'm saying that maybe…maybe we should consider the possibility that someone saw something." It was becoming clear that the captain could compartmentalize pretty effectively. It was impressive, but Stabler remained all fire and indignation.

"Do you have any idea how long the list of people is who want me dead?" He had a point there. Years of police work made for a wide variety of enemies.

"Right now I might be one of them…" she grumbled, and folded her arms across her chest.

He huffed a little. "Not funny."

A little funny… Jet maintained a neutral expression despite her desire to laugh out loud. Stabler could be intense and hard to handle. He was stubborn and temperamental, and Jet thanked god that she wasn't his superior officer. Bell had some sort of eternal patience with the man when most COs would have thrown him out on his ass years ago.

"I know there are a lot of possibilities. I get that. Believe me I really do." He dropped her head back against the reclined hospital bed. "But we should consider the easiest possibility first." She began to sound exhausted.

Stabler seemed attuned to even the most minute changes in tone and body language. Jet watched his features softened. "You okay Liv?"

"Yeah," she closed her eyes. "Just tired." She turned her head and opened her eyes. "I haven't exactly been sleeping well," she said with a sad smile.

He sighed, and tried to shift closer to her, but their beds were too far apart and he couldn't move well. He ended up laying his head back and groaning in frustration. His eyes drifted to hers, and they ached with sadness. "I'm sorry," he breathed. More quietly he added, "but I'll be here now."

The conversation was becoming more personal, but Jet couldn't not listen.

"You need sleep too, El." She said gently, eyes seeping with empathy.

"I'll be fine," he said gruffly.

"You've got to take care of you too Elliot." Her voice remained impossibly soft. "Other people need you too."

Jet began feeling more uncomfortable as the emotional tension thickened in room. She kept her eyes down, hoping to lay low through this emotionally intimate moment.

"People need you more," he said with a sad smile.

"You don't mean that," her voice thickened. "I need you," she admitted quietly. "Your kids need you."

"Losing a little sleep won't kill me," he argued gently.

"Maybe not," she agreed, "but sleep anyway. I'll be fine."

He watched her, radiating uncertainty, but nodded. He cleared his throat and jumped back into their previous conversation, like their previous emotional interlude didn't happen. "Fine," his voice was much more gentle than before. "But if we are considering this case we need to think about our other recent cases too." He watched her with his typical intensity. "We have both worked on high profile cases this year, and it's just as likely…if not more likely to be retaliation from one of those cases." He shook his head, "Hell it could be any perp or family from the past thirty years."

Jet forced down a smile. Benson knew exactly how to handle that man. After a brief terse conversation, she managed to bring him around to reason. The captain got her bulldog to stand down. It was truly impressive, and a little mind blowing. Stabler had a reputation of being an impulsive hothead, Jet knew better. As much as he burned with temperamental intensity, he cared about people with that same intensity. The gentleness exhibited in the previous conversation was just as much a part of him as his gruff exterior. He could be a walking paradox, a difficult puzzle of a person, but it seemed like someone had figured him out. Someone knew him inside and out, and that person was Captain Benson.

Jet let her eyes drift to the Captain, who's eyes focused intensely on her partner. God. Were they always like this? Any time Jet stood in the same room with the pair, their chemistry filled the air. The only word she could think to describe them was…intense.

She sighed. "Okay. Fair enough. There isn't a whole lot we can do about the distant past, it will probably be more beneficial to go over our most recent cases." She thought for a quick moment. "So we had the Shadowerk case," she began to brainstorm.

Jet was tempted to jump in, with her own thoughts, but then they would know she was listening in. She opted for listening more. They had worked on a few high profile cases lately, and over the past few years, and they made a lot of memories along the way. She listened while St"I had that case with the diplomat," Elliot bounced back.

Jet considered both cases. The Shadowerk case closed fairly cleanly, but there could be the possibility of retaliation from someone who used the site, but it seemed unlikely. Their work with the diplomat had resulted in a bombing and intense violence, but the people involved were a world a way, and unlikely to choose this avenue of revenge.

Olivia's face paled, and she swallowed deeply. "I think we've been overlooking a very real possibility."

Jet leaned in, her ears perked at the Captain's sudden change in tone. She didn't sense fear, not really. It was different. Distrust? Anger? Some sort of bitter emotion churned beneath her otherwise peaceful surface.

"Oscar Papa." She said simply. Her brown eyes held Elliot's with a knowing stare.

Elliot dropped his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ah shit."

-000-

"Anything from surveillance cameras?" Fin pinched the bridge of his nose. Nothing seemed to be coming together, but it was so damn obvious the shootings were connected.

"Not anything super helpful," Churlish murmured. "There aren't any clear angles, and the sun was reflecting in most of Stabler's footage."

Velasco started to snap his fingers. "What's that techy girl's name over there at organized crime, ah, I can't remember?"

"Um. Jet or something. She's on shift at the hospital makin sure no one decides to try taking another shot at Cap or Stabler." Fin knew the members of OCCB in passing. They worked closely on a few cases, but he primarily worked with Ayanna or Stabler. He didn't know much about the younger detectives.

"Yeah! That's her name. Can't she do some tech magic and clean up what we got? She's good at that crap right?"

Churlish rolled her eyes at Velasco's limited knowledge on the subject. "I dare you to go up to her and ask her to do some tech magic on these files…"

Velasco shook his head adamantly. "Hell no. That girl's pretty hot, but damn she's scary."

Fin leaned toward agreeing with Velasco. The young detective had a sweet face, but there was something fierce hiding beneath the surface. Fin ignored the tangent conversation and focused on the original thought. "Maybe she can help us out. You worked with her during the Shadowerk case didn't you?" His eyes fell on Churlish.

Churlish leaned back in her office chair, "Yeah. We're friends…sorta. I could collaborate with her and see if she can pull anything we missed."

"You do that. You might have to track her down, last I heard she was at the hospital." Churlish nodded, and began scrolling through her phone for Jets contact information. Fin returned his attention to Velasco. "You know Eddie down in crime scene analysis?"

"Yeah, kinda weird guy, but okay enough I guess."

Fin rolled his eyes. How Liv did this job everyday was beyond him. "I didn't ask for a character assessment. Go see if he's got any ideas based on bullet trajectory or any of that shit."

"Yeah okay," Velasco snatched his phone off his desk, and started for the exit.

Churlish picked up her purse and followed him out with her shoulder holding her phone to her ear.

Fin slumped into the nearest chair. They needed to catch a break soon or their case was going to be screwed. There had to be something they missed. He just couldn't figure out what.