Disclaimer: I don't own them, I'm just borrowing them.
Alex woke out of a light sleep, hearing rustling and a muffled thud from the living room. She glanced blearily at the clock. 3:43. She rolled to the side of the bed and swung her feet down onto the cold carpet. The cold air stung her as she flung the blankets back, and she quickly wrapped Olivia's robe around her.
Alex padded out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes, navigating blindly through the huge loft. Emerging from the hallway, she could see Olivia's shadowy figure in the darkness, trying to fight her way out of her sweater. Her shoes and her coat were already strewn on the floor behind her. On any other night, Alex would have scolded her for making a mess and demanded that she use the coat closet. But at 3:43 on a Sunday morning, after Olivia had been on duty for almost 52 straight hours on a high-profile case involving a vicious pedophile who had recently escalated to murder, Alex figured Olivia could throw her clothes wherever the hell she pleased.
As she approached the woman she hadn't seen in over two days, she caught sight of her face in a shaft of dim light from the living room. Olivia's face was pale and drawn and her eyes seemed sunken into dark purple pools. Her hair was a tangled mess, and Alex could envision Olivia sitting at her desk, or in the sedan, running her fingers haphazardly through her hair in a habitual move of frustration.
Olivia was still struggling to pull her sweater off, and Alex realized with a stab of heartache that her lover was so tired and drained that she couldn't even coordinate her movements enough to undress.
Alex reached out and gently caught Olivia's arm. Olivia flinched; she hadn't even realized Alex was there.
"Let me help," Alex murmured softly, pulling Olivia into her. With slow and sure movements Alex extricated Olivia's arms from the sweater and eased it over the Detective's head. Olivia's eyes tracked the sweater in confusion as it fell to the floor beside them.
"We'll get it in the morning," Alex assured her. She backed down the hall towards the bathroom, tugging Olivia gently along with her. Olivia tiredly reached for the light switch when they reached the bathroom, but Alex caught her hand. There was just enough light filtering through the small frosted windows near the ceiling to make out shapes and objects. Alex turned on the water in the shower, twisting the tap as hot as it would go.
She returned to her exhausted Detective, who had almost fallen asleep standing up. "Come here sweetheart," Alex whispered, pulling Olivia forward. With the same gentle movements as before, Alex undressed her girlfriend, allowing the clothes to drop aimlessly on the floor. Olivia's badge and gun were placed carefully, almost reverently on the counter by the sink. Steam had begun to roll through the bathroom as Alex shed the soft robe. She reached into the shower, adjusting the water to a comfortable temperature, and then reached for Olivia.
As if she were helping a child, Alex guided Olivia into the shower slowly, one leg at a time, stepping in after her. "Hang on to me," she spoke softly into Olivia' ear. Olivia's arms snaked willingly around Alex's waist and for a moment the two stood still, wrapped around each other under the pounding hot water. Finally Alex realized that if she allowed them to stand there much longer, they might both fall asleep on their feet.
Moving slowly but surely in the dark shower, Alex guided Olivia's head under the spray of water; Olivia was barely managing to hold her head up at all. As Alex rubbed shampoo into the dark hair, her fingers massaging Olivia's head, the detective sighed heavily in what may have been appreciation, relief, or pure exhaustion.
"Did you catch him?" Alex asked, carefully rinsing Olivia's soft hair.
"Yeah," Olivia mumbled, "chased him through Gramercy."
Alex quickly squirted body wash into her hands, using it as an excuse to check with her own hands that Olivia was uninjured. Working her way from neck to feet, she encountered nothing alarming, to her relief.
Taking another moment just to stand there with Olivia in her arms, Alex pressed her lips to Olivia's cheek, and then her ear, "I'm proud of you sweetheart. I knew you'd get him."
Olivia didn't reply, and Alex knew she was silently telling herself that they should have caught him sooner. Before he murdered two little girls.
Turning off the water, Alex carefully helped Olivia step out onto the plush floor rug. She grabbed towels from the closet and made quick work of drying them both, taking every chance to stare at Olivia's face, calm, eyes closed, framed by wet strands of hair. God she loved this woman.
"What time is it?" Olivia suddenly asked as Alex led her out of the bathroom.
"Four in the morning," Alex answered.
"I'm sorry I woke you; you're going to be tired tomorrow. What time do you have to get up?"
Alex was momentarily confused. Then she realized that Olivia didn't have any idea what day it was.
"Liv, honey, it's four o' clock on Sunday morning. I don't have to get up in the morning. Neither do you. We're just gonna sleep." Alex pushed Olivia, and smiled as the Detective, caught off guard, toppled right onto the sheets where Alex had been laying just twenty minutes ago. Alex crawled in from the other side and Olivia immediately rolled into her side. Alex smiled even wider, and tugged at the blankets for a moment, cocooning them both.
Olivia was already asleep. Alex pressed her lips to Olivia's and whispered a good-night to the sleeping Detective.