a/n: Guess who's back mothertuckers?! Let's begin, shall we?

Olivia looked at her watch as she walked down the hallway at 1PP. 8:45pm. She sighed. In the past two weeks, she'd been called in to report on the Broadway rapist three times, and she'd lost count of how many times she'd gotten home well after Noah's bedtime.

The "Broadway rapist," as the press had named the sadistic serial rapist, was targeting young female ingénues just making their starts on the New York City stage. He'd attacked five young women in just as many weeks.

Unfortunately, it wasn't until the fourth attack that Manhattan SVU had even become aware of the situation. The first two victims were initially too scared to come forward, and the third lived and was attacked in Brooklyn. Olivia had been trying to work with Brooklyn SVU, but the perp wore a mask and so far had left no DNA evidence. It was maddening.

1PP was asking for near daily updates. The press was in a frenzy. The Broadway community was frightened. All hands were on deck, and they still hadn't been able to get any closer to identifying the sick bastard.

This meeting hadn't been much different than the previous two. So far they hadn't been able to find anything linking the victims, and there was no new evidence bringing them closer to any kind of ID. So she weathered the same questions again and again with little more to offer for an answer.

Shaking her head in frustration, Olivia rushed down the hallway. She just wanted to get home.

But she had one stop to make first. She was looking for a restroom on her way to the elevator. There was one back by the meeting room, but she figured there had to be another one on the way out. She looked down the hallway just before the elevator bank and saw that she was in luck. About halfway down the semi-darkened hall there was a sign for the restroom.

A few minutes later she stepped out of the restroom and pulled her phone from her bag to check for messages. Nothing but a couple of updates from Carisi on a DV case and a message from Barba asking how things went. Just as she was about to call him back with the details she heard a crash coming from the opposite direction.

Olivia looked back and saw a single office light streaming into the hallway a couple doors down. She paused and listened for anymore commotion. She heard some hushed voices and started to turn back toward the elevators.

Before she could take a step, Olivia heard another crash and a woman's voice call out. That got her attention more fully, and she turned toward the sound.

As she got closer to the door, she heard a woman's voice say, "Please." Then a man's voice that was too muffled to make out.

"I won't tell anyone," the woman's voice said. Olivia couldn't tell if the woman sounded upset or not. She honestly wasn't sure what she was overhearing, but given her line of work, she felt compelled to check it out.

She planned to casually walk by the office and glance inside to make sure everything was okay. What she saw caused her to freeze on the spot.

There in the office, with their hands all over each other, was Ed Tucker and an attractive, middle-aged blond woman she'd never seen before.

Time stopped.

But then again, it didn't. In a split second, Olivia scanned the scene. There was an overturned wire basket on the floor near the corner of the desk with papers strewn around it. Next to that, in front of the desk, was a metal pen holder, on its side with pens and pencils scattered about.

The blond was up against the desk with her knee length navy skirt hiked way up her thigh as her leg was half wrapped around one of his. Her cream colored blouse was half unbuttoned. One of her hands gripped Ed's tie and the other was flat against his chest.

Olivia must have gasped out loud because both Ed and the woman immediately turned to look at her. It took everything in her not to actually let her mouth fall open in shock. She couldn't seem to move or speak. She kept taking in the sight before her.

Ed was holding the woman's upper arms, but as soon as he saw Olivia his hands fell away. He quickly stepped back, and a blush started to creep up his neck.

"I'm sorry," the woman said. She quickly pulled at her blouse with one hand while attempting to smooth her skirt down with the other as she stepped around Ed.

"I… I…" the woman stuttered looking at Olivia with wide eyes. "I've got to get out of here." Then she rushed out of the office and down the hallway. It occurred to her that it was an odd reaction considering Olivia didn't know the woman, but she was too distracted by the whole thing to pay attention.

Ed stared at Olivia.

She stared back.

His blue tie was loosened, but still hanging around his neck. His suit collar was a little turned up on one side, and his white shirt was half untucked in the front. His breaths were coming quick.

Sonofabitch, she thought. Of all the people to interrupt in an office tryst, it had to be him.

She was also mildly appalled. She'd never taken Ed as the kind of guy to do that sort of thing. Especially not in an office at 1PP.

Once upon a time, she'd been pretty confident that she'd finally gotten to know the real Ed Tucker. That he was the one for her. That he'd meant it when he said things like "always" and "I'm not going anywhere." Clearly he hadn't meant it. He left. So what did she really know at all?

"Olivia," Ed finally said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "It's not what you think."

It felt as if he was reading her mind. She wanted to have a quick retort, but she couldn't seem to form words at the moment.

The blush of his skin grew deeper. He took a step toward her and frowned when she simultaneously backed away and refused to maintain eye contact.

"It's really none of my business, is it?" She said, barely able to keep her voice steady. Then she turned on her heel and hurried back toward the elevators.

He called after her, and for a few seconds, she thought he might follow.

She didn't know whether or not to feel relieved when he didn't.