Set post-Lead.

Alex sat down, ordered a round of beer, and put her hands on the table.

"Have you ever heard of the state of Israel?"

Olivia raised her eyebrows.

"Have you met John Munch?"

"Point taken."

"Not sure I've got yours."

"What do you know about Israel?"

"Not a whole lot. Can I ask why we're discussing geopolitics over ten-cent pretzels and twenty-cent beer?"

"Relevance will become apparent." Before the words were even out of her mouth, she had closed her eyes in frustration. "Sorry. I'm beginning to dream in legalese."

"You're forgiven. Israel?"

"Do you know how it came to exist?"

"Alex, as much as I'm glad to see you, this is not my strong suit and I'm exhausted. I'm going to fail this test."

"Not a test."

Olivia sighed.

"Israel. Home of the Jews after World War II, right? And I'm pretty sure it's got a kick-ass defence force."

"Exactly. I was reading an article that week that posited a new theory. The writer suggested that the reason for Israel's impressive military firepower is fear and a good memory. The Israelis don't trust anyone anymore."

"Which would hardly be surprising, considering that they're a nation made up of Holocaust survivors. Fascinating theory, Alex. But when you swung by the precinct and asked for a chance to explain yourself, I was expecting something a bit more personal and a bit less…current affairs."

"I've been a lawyer for too long. I've lost the ability to explain anything without an allegory."

At that, Olivia smiled.

"OK, Counselor. How does this tie in to your explanation?"

"You and El wanted to know why I hadn't spoken to you since I got back."

"That we did."

"I'm Israel."

Olivia took a sip of beer, sighed, and shook her head.

"Nope. Try me again."

Alex smiled.

"Bad things have happened to me-"

"Ain't that the truth," said Olivia under her breath.

"So I'm nervous. Of being hurt."

"Hang on. Who are the Nazis in this metaphor?"

"Zapata. Connors. Velez."

"But they're dead. Ish."

"Well, so are the Nazis. Ish."

Olivia grinned, and Alex smiled back.

"Alex, I'm still completely lost."

"It may not be the clearest explanation ever, I'll admit."

"A weakness? Good Lord."

"Stunning, I know."

"Come on. You know I'll grind the explanation out of you."

"I would expect nothing else, considering your line of work. Alright. I came back to New York, and I was still…scared."

"Scared of what?"

"My metaphorical Nazis. And Saudi Arabia, maybe. Iraq."

"In plain speech?"

Alex sighed, and Olivia's expression softened.

"I was…scared…that I would be vulnerable. Weak. Useless, in other words, to you. So. I took another job. Another life. But I must say, it's easier to pretend that you're someone you're not when everyone else thinks it too."

Olivia had, at some point, rested her hand on top of Alex's.

"It wasn't that I didn't want to see you all. But…it was like being Emily all over again. People got my name right more often. Called me Alex like you had. But it was all still WitSec. I don't really know why, but it was."

"So why did you come back at all? And why haven't you gone dashing straight back to Appeals?"

"I like this job."

Olivia raised her eyebrows.

"That simple? Really?"

Alex pressed her lips together.

"It's home." She paused. "And now I've said that out loud, it sounds quite ridiculous."

Olivia shook her head.

"Nope. Makes perfect sense to me. Well. Most of it didn't, but the last bit did."

"That a job finding and prosecuting the scum of humanity is home? Really?"

"Absolutely. My home as well."

Alex smiled, and laced her fingers with Olivia's.

"Good. That makes two lunatics around here."

"I wouldn't abandon you to be the only wacko around here, Alex."

"And Greylek was an awful ADA," Alex added conversationally, and Olivia spluttered into her beer, laughing. "Someone needs to clean that up."

"Jealous, much?"

"Oh, very much so. I thought I was going to hit Casey when I came back for the trial. Seething. How dare she steal my people while I was dead?" She closed her eyes again. "What a ridiculous sentence."

"If it's any consolation, we gave the cold shoulder when she turned up. Couldn't bear the idea of having anyone but you."

Alex checked to see if Olivia was joking, but her face was absolutely serious.

"Thank you, Liv."

"If you want the truth, I'm your girl. We missed you. I missed you."

"You missed me getting you warrants at all hours in the morning, more like."

"No." Alex had been joking, but Olivia was not. "I missed you."

Alex looked at Olivia's face carefully. She was quietly, deadly sincere.

"I missed you too," Alex said quietly. "A great deal."

Olivia smiled at that, and Alex did as well. Their hands were still laced together.

"How is the rest of your life?" Olivia asked.

"What rest of my life?" Alex replied. "I have a fiancé who left me. A few friends from the DA's office. And you people. That's it. How's yours?"

"Slightly less eventful than yours. And us people. El had another son."

"I heard. That must have been interesting."

"Interesting is a good word." Alex smiled. "Did anyone fill you in on how it all panned out?"

No-one had, so Olivia took half an hour to fill Alex in on everything that had happened to them since she had left. It amounted to pitifully little. When they were done with the squad, Alex, with no fuss or emotion, told Olivia the story of her other life as Alexandra Cabot, Bureau Chief.

"It doesn't really…scan," Liv said when Alex was done. Alex raised her eyebrows.

"Scan?"

"Hey, I'm the daughter of an English professor. Cut me slack."

Alex merely smiled.

"It doesn't sound like you, is what I meant."

"It didn't feel like me."

With no preamble, Liv leaned the last few inches across the table and kissed her, gently. Alex was speechless, motionless. They broke apart.

"Did that," Olivia asked, nervous, "feel like you?"

Alex stood up abruptly, and Olivia's heart sank. Damn, damn, damn. So close, so damn close, and she had blown it. She was such an idiot. Damn.

But then Alex reached out her hand for Olivia's and pulled her, gently, out of her seat. She was smiling. It was a shaky smile, but it was definitely a smile.

"Definitely," she said, so quietly that Olivia could barely hear her.

Alex threw a twenty at their table, and they walked out of the bar, silent, hand-in-hand, out onto the street.

"Let's go home," Alex said.

So they did.