The night was winding down. Everyone had gone home except the three – Olivia, Elliot, and Cragen. Olivia and Elliot sat across from each other at their desks, reflecting on their personal thoughts. He was reclined in his chair, staring at the blank computer screen with his fingers intertwined. Olivia leaned forward, elbows on her desk, clicking and twirling a pen in her right hand. The bullpen was silent.

The rapid clicking of her pen suddenly pulled Elliot out of his blank state of mind. He looked away from his computer to gaze at her. Olivia kept her downward stare, unaware that her partner was concentrating on her every move - or lack thereof. Her insanely big, beautiful eyes were pointed downward, perhaps pondering her thoughts. She sighed every now and then; gracefully pulling her left arm up to tuck a piece of fallen hair behind her ear, or rub her tired-looking eyes.

He couldn't get over the way she carried herself with such poise and self-confidence, especially since he knew all too well the vulnerability that she also had been forced to constantly suppress throughout her whole life. He grinned, and could have gone back to finishing the surprisingly small amount of paperwork that was spread in front of him, but he didn't. Instead he pulled up his IM chat window, and scrolled down to find the appropriate contact. There it was – BensonSVU. He quickly glanced over at his partner again, who was still in some sort of unknown trance. He hesitated for a moment, wondering what to say. He then double clicked her screen name and began to type…

StablerSVU (9:37:52 PM): Come back down to planet earth, Miss Benson. We miss you.

The abrupt unexpected chime of a new message echoed in her mind. She blinked in surprise as her complete attention shifted over to her computer screen. Elliot cupped his face in his hands, and looked down, pretending to be finishing his paperwork.

Elliot. Her heart fluttered. She tried desperately to hide the joy that filled every inch of her whenever she heard, saw, or said his name, even if it was only in her own thoughts.

She lifted one eyebrow and darted a confused stare his way, cracking an awkward, open-mouthed smile. He smirked innocently. "What?" he asked, trying to seem clueless of what she was suddenly so amused by.

Olivia let out a playful scoff through her teeth, and spun her chair around to face computer screen. Her hands were frozen, floating over the keyboard. She thought about the man sitting across from her; the kind, sexy, gentle man. Her teeth started sinking into her bottom lip as she typed…

BensonSVU (9:38:75 PM): Whaddaya want, Stabler?

StablerSVU (9:39:00 PM): Not much, just you. :)

Olivia blinked, taken back by his forward statement. He was only kidding, right? She was almost afraid to make eye contact with her partner. She slowly lifted her head and smirked innocently at him and rolled her eyes. He grinned confidently at her and looked back down at the papers in front of him, as he left her stomach in tightened knots and a permanent, beaming smile pasted on her face.

A few minutes later, they heard the usually loud clatter of the blinds against the office door as Cragen pulled the door open and shut it behind him. Olivia shot a look toward the sudden noise, as Elliot spun around in his chair to see the Captain strutting to the exit. His coat was draped over his arm, with a couple folders in the other. He stopped.

"Detectives. You're still here." he stated plainly, his eyes narrowing.

"You say that like we're not here late every night of the week." Elliot huffed.

Cragen forced a grin. He shifted his glance over to Olivia. She had her elbow resting on the desk, with her head propped up in her right hand. Her fingers made an L shape, with her temple and chin leaning into them. "Olivia, why are you holding your head?"

Olivia looked up, a tinge of uncertainty written on her face.

"Been working this job for ten years, and you ask me why I'm holding my head?" she said with her eyebrows raised and headed tilted, honestly raising the question.

Cragen nodded, she had a valid point. "Finishing up the Keesmer case?"

Olivia scratched her eyebrow. "Uh, yeah… we got DNA from the semen off the bed sheets. The sample is with Warner, she should have the results by morning to see what we can do from there."

"All right, good luck. I'm going home." He informed them, gesturing toward the main door of the precinct.

Olivia turned back to her computer without a word. Both Cragen and Elliot sensed her slight sadness. They shared a look before Don turned to walk out the door.

"G'night, Cap." Elliot said breathlessly. Cragen looked back and gave a faint wave before he pulled the door open and walked out, the sound of his faint footsteps slowly disappearing into the night air.

- - -

An hour had passed. Both partners starting to look considerably tired over the time that had passed. Elliot clenched his jaw and looked over at his partner once again. She shifted herself further back in the reasonably comfortable chair, her left hand massaging the back of her neck. She picked up her pen, wrote a few words, and then went back to twirling it in circles around her fingers.

Elliot looked at his watch. 10:45PM.

"Liv…" He hushed quietly. He could tell she wasn't exactly alert.

No response.

"Liv." He stated her name more sharply now, hoping not to startle her.

"Hm?" Her head shot up in his direction, eyes wide. "Sorry, I'm not with it today. I'm even more tired than usual." She threw her pen down in front of her, and leaned back in her chair with a heavy sigh, gathering and then smoothing her dark, almond coloured hair.

"You want a ride home, Liv?" he asked her bluntly.

She pushed another piece of her honey-streaked hair out of her face, and momentarily got lost in his eyes.

"Uh… well, sure. I just…thought, you know, that you'd want to finish up."

His face scrunched in boredom and annoyance. "Nah, I really don't want to bother with it right now. I don't think I have enough energy to do it right. Besides, I can finish it up later… maybe tomorrow. I don't have that much left anyway."

Olivia's face showed a sign of slight relief. "Oh. Well, in that case, yeah. Let's get out of here."

He shut his computer off, watching her every move as she slowly stood up, pulling her beige trench coat off the back of her chair and swinging it around her shoulders before pushing her arms through the sleeves. He then pulled the keys out of his pocket and slung it over his toned, masculine arm, Olivia closed the folder on her desk and tucked it underneath her bicep. They gathered their belongings, and met side by side before exiting the large, prominent door, stepping in sync with each other.