TITLE: Kickbacks

AUTHOR: Julian Lee

FANDOM: Law & Order: SVU

PAIRING: Munch/Finn

RATING: PG

DISCLAIMER: [shrill, obnoxious cheerleader voice] Dick Wolf, Dick Wolf, NBC! [/shrill, obnoxious cheerleader voice]

ARCHIVE: Yes to list archives; others please ask.

SUMMARY: Under certain circumstances, even Finn will surrender a few hours of sleep.

NOTES: This time, I resisted the 5-minute challenge for nearly 4 hours before I caved. Damn my lack of resistance. For Perpetual Motion, yet again.

Kickbacks
by Julian Lee

"I've got a tip for you."

Munch lowered his coffee cup and looked at Olivia. "Yeah?"

She nodded. "Stay away from Finn this morning. He's totally grouchy. Acting like maybe he didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Huh." Munch's gaze slid to his partner, slumped at his desk and looking grumpy. "Thanks for the warning." Slinking to his desk and sliding into his chair, he touched Finn's foot briefly with his own. "Hey," he said softly.

"What?" Finn snarled.

"Olivia said you were a real gentlman this morning." His only response was Finn's middle finger. "Very classy, Detective. Didn't get enough beauty rest last night?"

"Didn't get hardly any at all." Finn glared wearily at Munch. "Somebody kept kicking me."

Munch blinked. "You could've said something. Woken me up or rolled me over or kicked back or something."

"I said your name like five times and kicked you twice. You're dead when you get like that. But yesterday was a damned annoying day for me, and I was *not* in the mood. I need my sleep, man."

Something whiny in Finn's voice sort of snapped something in Munch. "I'm sorry my nightmares inconvenienced you."

"What?" Finn went from molten to melted in about half a second. "Jesus, John. Why didn't you say?"

Angrily shoving his glasses up, Munch glowered at Finn through the tinted lenses. "Because I didn't want *this."

Finn spread his hands. "What *this*?"

"This look you get when I mention the nightmares. Like, 'John's made of glass so let's not breathe too hard on him.'"

"I got no look like that, John."

"You're giving it to me right now. Frankly I liked the surly one better."

"Fine." Finn shrugged. "I can do surly." He looked for a moment at the message slips littering his desk, then looked back up at Munch. "But we'll work it out tonight, John," he said, his voice as soft as any promise. "Whatever it takes to get your nightmares gone."

"Even if you don't get enough sleep?" John tried to put the snark in it, but his heart couldn't get behind the effort.

Finn smiled - just barely. "Even if I don't get any sleep at all."

Think I went a bit over time. Think I don't care.