"Liv, Elliot!" Don Cragen poked his bald head out of his office door.

The two detectives looked up from their paperwork and bagels. They were both sleep-deprived from the night before. Elliot had been up for most of the night fighting with Kathy. And Olivia had been thinking about that night. Oh, that night...

Three Weeks Earlier

Olivia Benson's eyelids fluttered open. She cleared her throat quietly and took in her surroundings.

She was in a room she didn't recognize at first. She was laying on the left side of a double bed, naked, next to... Elliot? "No." she whispered in horror, getting out of the tangled covers as quickly as possible. She got dressed in her previous day's outfit quickly, then sat on the chair in the corner. It was really uncomfortable, but no way was she getting back in that bed with Elliot. Not to mention her head was killing her. That's what she gets for drinking so much!

She had slept with a married man. Not only a married man, but her partner. He was like a brother to her, a best friend for the last twelve years. Not someone she was supposed to sleep with. No. Not in a million years. But she had. She remembered it perfectly. The whole night played over and over again in her mind as she sat in that chair.

A groan coming from the bed snapped her out of her trance. Elliot was waking up. Olivia raked her mind for something to tell him. "Morning, El! I know we had sex last night and all, but let's not mention it again, okay? Have a good day with your family!" that wouldn't exactly cut it.

"Liv?" The detective's sky blue eyes blinked open. He sounded genuinely confused.

"Well good morning, sleeping beauty." Olivia joked, trying to act normal.

Elliot sat up and the cheap, thin sheets fell down, revealing that he had on boxers.

Olivia was grateful she didn't have to see him naked. Well, she already had, but that was besides the point.

"Where are we?" Elliot asked, his hand rubbing his head.

Olivia's eyebrows crinkled together. "You don't remember last night?" She stood up.

Elliot looked as if he were digging for something in his brain. "No." He looked up at her, his face scared. But then he looked her up and down, noticing she was fully dressed. Seeing her fully clothed made him feel better, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well," Olivia began. "We got Hogan put in jail for the rest of his sorry life."

Elliot grinned. "Good. That son of a bitch deserved it."

Olivia smiled. "And then we went to Jimmy's to celebrate. It got a little out of hand, and neither of us could drive. So we just got a room and crashed here." She shrugged, hoping he would believe it. "And you took the bed, greedy ass. I had to sleep on the chair!" She added, just for good measure.

Elliot chuckled. "Sorry, sorry! If I wasn't drunk you know I would've given you the bed."

"Yeah, you kind of passed out on it if I remember correctly." The lies slid out of her mouth easily, like she had been doing it forever. Except she had never lied to Elliot, ever.

"Well now," Elliot said as he stood up and pulled on his pants, "I get to go home to my wonderful wife." He pulled his gray T shirt over his head, his muscles rippling in the process. "She's going to acuse me of cheating on her, watch."

Olivia frowned. "Well, just tell her what happened and she'll believe you."

"No way!" Elliot looked at his partner like she was crazy. "She's crazy. She doesn't even trust me with you. Especially you." He shook his head. "Like we would ever do anything."

Olivia laughed shakily. "I'm sure the fighting will get better, El."

Elliot looked up at her as he buttoned the buttons on his light blue dress shirt he had found on the floor. "No, I don't think it will."

He hadn't admitted that to anyone. But Olivia was his partner, and he trusted her with everything. He knew she could keep all his secrets and always tell him the truth. She was the one person he trusted completely.

He had put too much faith in her.

"Teenage girl found murdered in an apartment on Sixth and Fletcher." He informed them. "Melinda wants you two there."

Elliot stood up, his chair rolling back behind him. He pushed his arms through the sleeves of his long trench coat. "Nothin' like a murder to wake you up in the morning." He muttered, smirking at his partner.

Olivia smirked back, putting on her coat too and downing the rest of her coffee in one gulp. "I know what you mean." She agreed, throwing out her coffee cup as they walked to the elevator.

This was going to be a long, long day. She could already tell.

"Olivia!" Melinda Warner called as soon as the detectives got out of Elliot's car in front of the apartment. "Elliot!"

"Hey, Melinda." Olivia smiled warmly as she walked up to the woman. "What do you have for us?"

"Lots of blood." She said skeptically as she led them into the apartment building. They both took that as she didn't have any information yet.

"Okay, that's nothing new." Elliot furrowed his eyebrows, stepping into the elevator behind Olivia and Melinda. "Was she raped?"

Melinda nodded. "I think, but it's hard to tell a lot until I get her on the table, there's too much blood."

Olivia squinted one eye like she always did when she was thinking. "Cause of death?"

"Her throat was slit. But there are stab wounds and shallow cuts all over her body." She turned to Olivia. "I would say she was tortured and bleeding for hours before the perp killed her."

Poor girl. Olivia thought as she took a deep breath threw her nose, looking away from Melinda. She was not looking forward to seeing the body.

The elevator doors opened and Melinda led the way down a hall swarming with neighbors and CSU. Olivia, Elliot, and Melinda all ducked under the CRIME SCENE caution tape, and no one questioned them. Melinda opened a door, letting it fall open for Olivia and Elliot to see. The second she looked inside, Olivia ran to the bathroom, throwing up her bagel and coffee. Elliot ran after her, not knowing what was wrong. When he heard her retching noises in the bathroom he waited outside.

"You okay?" he asked, his brow furrowed when she came out.

"Yeah, fine." Olivia replied softly. She walked past him, forcing herself to look at the bloody room again. She had to prove to herself that she wasn't afraid of a little—well, a lot—of blood. "Damn, that's a lot of blood." She shook her head.

Melinda nodded again, her lips pressed together. "Told you, hours of bleeding." She stood over the body, which lay on the bed and had been covered by sheets. The sheets hardly did anything to cover up the blood though; all they did was conceal her.

"How old is our Jane Doe?" Olivia bit down on the side of her cheek.

Elliot looked at the body, his expression half angry, half upset. "She couldn't be more than fifteen."

"I would say fourteen or fifteen based on her height and weight. I'll know when we get her to the lab."

Olivia nodded, understanding.

"Who's apartment is this?" Elliot walked in a circle, opening some drawers and picking up a few things on a dresser.

"The neighbors don't even know his name. Apparently he never talks to anyone, and he's hardly ever here. CSU's getting the landlord to find his name." Melinda shrugged.

"I'll meet you in the car, El." Olivia said, walking out before Elliot or Melinda could respond. She had to get away from that smell of blood. Usually it didn't bother her—frankly, after twelve years as a cop she was used to it—but today, it made her feel nauseated. She put her sunglasses on and looked around as she walked out of the building. There was a figure, at the bottom of the steps, with bloody clothes slung over his shoulder in a clear plastic bag. It looked like he was staring at all the cop cars. Olivia's mouth fell open as she took in this guy. This had to be their perp. She had never seen someone so stupid! "Excuse me?"

The figure turned around, took one look at her, and ran. He dropped the bag. "I need backup! Suspect on the run!" she yelled into her radio as she sprinted after the guy. She followed him back around the side of the building, then reached a dead end. The guy turned around to face her, shaking.

"Leave. Now." The guy said, pulling a bloody knife out of his coat pocket.

Olivia raised her eyebrows at the knife. "Is that the knife you used to kill that girl?" she asked boldly, trying to piss the guy off on purpose.

The guy's shoulder twitched. "What's it to you?"

Olivia half-smiled. "Well, that knife is what we're going to use to put you away for life." She gestured to the weapon.

"You weren't supposed to be here." The guy was twitching a lot now, breathing heavy. "No one was supposed to be here."

Squinting at the guy, Olivia said, "You're not too bright, are ya?" she laughed.

His veins in his head bulged. "You bitch!" he lunged for her.

Olivia grabbed his wrist before he could stab her with the foot-long butcher knife. "You can call me detective."

"Drop the knife!" Elliot's voice came from behind Olivia. "You heard me, drop it!"

Olivia turned around, about to tell Elliot she had the guy, when suddenly she felt a burning in her thigh. Her head snapped to it, and she saw she had been stabbed. She dropped the guy's wrist and fell to the ground, unable to support herself on her leg.

"Liv!" Elliot boomed, running to her side. He punched the guy who had stabbed her in the jaw, and he fell over, unconscious. "Liv, stay with me." He fell to the ground next to her, grabbing her and putting her head in his lap. "I need a bus, on Sixth and Fletcher, now! Rush it." He said quickly into his radio. He pulled out his phone and dialed Melinda as fast as he could. "Melinda, Liv was stabbed behind the building. Help, please!"

Olivia was fighting to stay conscious.

"Stay with me Liv!" he said, his heart beating fast as he tried to keep eye contact with Olivia. "Stay with me."

Olivia's brown eyes drifted from Elliot to the sky. Then they closed, and she fell into a deep sleep.

"Liv!" Elliot shook her gently. "Liv, wake up! Come on, Liv. You're stronger than this."

A/N:

I had such great feedback for the first chapter, that I knew I had to continue! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, you're all amazing :)

Disclaimer: I don't own SVU :(

I had to write this chapter like three times because every time I almost finished my laptop freaked out. Don't you love it when that happens at four in the morning? Haha, so I think I deserve a review for that? Please? :)

& when I ask for a review, please be nice. I take constructive criticism, but please don't put uncalled for, rude comments. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, just say it nicely! Thank you :)