3.20am

"At last," Elliot grumbled, as Olivia approached the car. It was a cold, miserable night, and he had not enjoyed his four-hour shift in their latest stake-out.

"I'm ten minutes early," Olivia reminded him, mildly. "Anything?"

"No. And nothing likely," Elliot said. "I don't know why we're doing this."

"We're doing this because if he breaks his curfew, we can lock him up – at last," Olivia said. She was in no mood to discuss it with Elliot. She just wanted to get her four hours over and done with. "I'll see you later," she said, as she took his place in the driving seat.

The car was cold, and Olivia had no faith that her vigil would be productive. She hoped the bakery would open early, so she could get a coffee to help while away the hours. At least she was in safe part of town; she was parked up on the side street just by the DA's offices. Maybe, she mused, she'd see the delicious Alex Cabot heading into work later. She knew Alex was a hard worker – in fact, she had never known her not to be in the office whenever she had called her in the morning for a warrant, or for advice.

By 5.30am, Olivia was thoroughly fed up. She was cold, miserable and uncharacteristically grumpy. She knew instinctively that their man wasn't going anywhere, not that night anyway. She was just stifling a large yawn when she saw movement. But it wasn't their perp. Olivia was astounded to see Alex Cabot, striding down the street. She was casually dressed, and carried a small holdall as well as a garment bag. Her blonde hair was thrown casually into a bun, and she appeared to be free of make-up.

Olivia nearly called out to the ADA, but knew that it would make a mockery of her surveillance. Also, there was something in the posture of the younger woman – some tension – that made her realize that Alex was not in the mood to chat.

Olivia pondered what Alex could possibly be doing. Her office was, literally, around the corner. So she must have come from there? But why would she be doing that? If she had pulled an all-nighter – and surely Olivia would have know about that, Alex worked only for SVU – then why would she be wearing jeans as she left the office? And what was she carrying?

Olivia couldn't work out what was going on. Her mind conjured up a range of scenarios, all of them unlikely. But, as she continued to ponder, she saw the last thing she expected. Alex Cabot, on her way back from wherever she had been. But this time she was back in 'work' mode. She had on the blue suit that Olivia liked so much, her hair was nicely styled, and her make-up had been carefully applied. The only break with formality was the sneakers she wore on her feet, but Olivia just knew that she would have her trademark heels somewhere close by.

The detective looked at her watch. 6.45am. Well, that kinda made sense. She knew Alex liked to start work early, and was always in the office before everyone else. As Alex walked past her car, but on the other side of the street, Olivia looked closely at her. She looked tired, and strained, her jaw set in a determined line.

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4.15pm

"C'mon, detective," Alex said, impatience creeping into her voice. "You know I need probable cause. You can argue with me all you want, but there's no judge in the city who would sign this warrant."

Olivia opened her mouth to argue, and then shut it again. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. She knew Alex was right, but she just knew the perp was guilty, and if they could just get in his trailer, she knew they would find his stack of videos. She nodded, and turned to leave.

Alex saw the sudden change in demeanor and realized, with relief, that Olivia wasn't going to chew her out like Stabler would. She wasn't as bull-headed as he was, and she knew that it was beyond Alex's control.

As she reached the door, Olivia heard Alex say, in a much softer voice this time, "I'm sorry. I really am."

She turned, and gave the attorney a tired smile.

"You look exhausted," Alex said. "I was just going to have coffee. Let me pour you some, huh?"

Olivia was going to refuse, but she sensed a hitherto-unknown touch of kindness in Alex's voice. And it was an overture. Maybe not of friendship, perhaps, but at least of friendliness. And Olivia had few close friends, feeling that sharing the stresses of her career was a burden, and that it wasn't fair to impose that on civilians. But Alex dealt with the same cases, albeit from a courtroom. She saw the photographs, even if she didn't often have to deal with the crime scene.

Olivia nodded. "That'd be great."

"What time did you start work this morning?" Alex said gently, as she passed her a steaming cup.

"I left the apartment at just after 3am," Olivia replied with a grimace. "Early morning stakeout."

"So time to go home and get some rest?" Alex suggested, with a smile.

Olivia gave a hollow laugh. "I wish," she said. "My paperwork's piled up. I gotta get that done before I can think of leaving." She looked more closely at Alex. "I'm betting I'm not the only one," she smiled, "don't tell me the great Alexandra Cabot is a nine-to-five girl."

Alex smiled. "You got me."

Olivia finished her coffee, and stood to leave. "This was nice. Thank you."

Alex nodded agreement. "We all need a break sometimes," she said, softly.

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The next two days passed in a whirlwind. Thanks to the testimony of one of the victims, Alex was able to get the detectives the warrant they needed, and the search of his trailer revealed a whole collection of incriminating material. So it was late that Wednesday night that Olivia headed back home. On impulse, she took a detour past 1 Hogan Place, and looked up at Alex's office window. There was a light still on, and Olivia could see a shadowy figure pass past the window. She would recognize that silhouette anywhere. Glancing at her watch, Olivia saw that it was 1.15am. Just what in the hell was Alex playing at? Nobody could do those sorts of hours without burning out.

She was tempted to go up to Alex's office and pound on the door, and instruct her to go home. But they had only just started a tenuous friendship, and she didn't want to jeopardize that. And Alex must have her reasons. Olivia made a mental note to keep a watchful eye on her friend.

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"Ball-buster," Elliot grumbled disconsolately as he returned to the office. "I mean, where the hell does she get off? Why does she get to decide when a warrant is necessary?"

"She's our ADA," Olivia tried to keep her temper. "And she works real hard for us. Maybe sometimes you should remember that. There's no point in her saying yes when she no judge in their right mind is going to sign it. That's a waste of everybody's time."

Elliot glared at his partner. "Switched sides, Liv?" he sneered. "I never thought you'd take Cabot's side against me."

"Screw you, Stabler. There aren't any sides in this. All that matters is the victim. And we're wasting time, arguing with Alex when you know fine well she couldn't get a signature if she tried. Let's focus on what we can do, shall we?" Olivia bit back. After an 18-hour day that showed no sign of ending, her head was pounding and she was in no mood to massage her partner's delicate ego.

Captain Cragen emerged from his office just in time to witness the confrontation. "She's right, Elliot," he said. "Let's try and use our time more productively. You go get the results from Warner. And Benson, either go home, or take a couple of hours in the crib."

"Captain, I'm fi...," Olivia started.

"No arguments," Cragen was firm.

Olivia trailed dispiritedly upstairs. She felt she would never sleep, not until they caught the perp. But she surprised herself by sleeping soundly for just over two hours, awaking much refreshed, and ready to face a further six hours at her desk.

It was nearly 1am by the time Olivia set off home. It had become a habit to take a detour on the way home, and she was pleasantly surprised to see no light on in Alex's office. But wait, wasn't that Alex leaving the building? She slowed her car, and saw Alex heft a bag on to her shoulder and stride off down the street. Again, she was casually dressed, this time with a thick winter coat to ward off the increasingly cold weather.

Olivia observed her closely. She looked shattered, lines of tiredness on her face. If Alex had been less tired, she would probably have noticed Olivia tailing her, but she didn't seem to be paying any attention.

Alex walked for nearly 20 minutes, eventually turning into an all-night laundromat. Olivia couldn't have been more surprised. She parked on the other side of the street, and watched as her colleague – friend? – sorted through what appeared to be a bag of laundry, and loaded it into two different machines with practiced ease.

Olivia watched her, fascinated. Once the clothes were whirring around, the blonde attorney settled herself in an uncomfortable plastic chair, and took out a book. Olivia continued her surveillance, and her heart almost broke as she saw the exhausted look on Alex's face. Twice her head jerked as she struggled to stay awake until her clothes were ready.

Olivia could take it no longer. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew that her friend was in trouble.

Alex didn't even look up as the door to the laundromat opened. It was only when Olivia sat next to her that she saw who had come in. All color drained from her face.

Olivia put her hand gently over Alex's. "Alex?" her voice was laced with worry. "What is this? Are you okay?"

Alex looked at Olivia's face, ready to bullshit, to manufacture some reason she was there at that time. But she saw her open, honest expression, and the genuine concern in her eyes, and she couldn't lie to her. "I'm just doing my laundry," Alex's voice was hoarse.

Olivia didn't speak. She just waited for her to continue.

Alex looked directly into her eyes. "Have you been following me?"

"Just tonight," Olivia admitted.

"But you've guessed. You know I'm living in the office."

"But why?" Olivia's voice was so gentle that Alex wanted to cry.

"I'm broke, Detective Benson. I'm flat broke."