This is the precursor to "take me home" which, if you haven't read yet, you can read after this (provided you are amused by this little creation). Let's say this takes place somewhere around season 4….. it's A/O and has a little bit of plot, but not much.
Femslash Warning: Rated M for F/F content (especially in the 2nd part… which is well underway). So if you are offended by this sort of thing please don't read further, there are plenty of other stories out there for you!!
As always, if you enjoy this (or I suppose even if you don't) please leave a review if you feel moved to do so!
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Where it Ends (for now):
Olivia Benson's body felt like it was made of lead… lead filled with sand… She was lying face down, and was slowly realizing she had one hell of a hangover. But what had happened last night? Her memories started to drift back…. the bar…..right, she went there after work….
At that moment she was vaguely aware that her sheets felt softer than usual. She struggled to open an eye. Oh. Dear. Lord. She wasn't in her apartment at all. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, and remembered everything.
She got that feeling one has when they concurrently discover that something amazingly wonderful has happened to them, and that it could result in a world of trouble.
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Where It Begins:
It had been a long week. A very long week. If it hadn't been Friday she might have taken an early weekend.
It wasn't just that she had too many cases, or that the cases themselves took a lot of energy to deal with. It was that Alex Cabot had just spent the entire day writing a detailed and lengthy emergency motion that would never be used. The case had settled, but not on her terms and she wasn't happy about it. Not one bit.
Alex exhaled deeply and tossed the stack of papers she was reading to the corner of her desk with the things she didn't feel like dealing with. She had about had it for the night. However, there wasn't much waiting for her at home, another night of take out and catching up on the news before falling dead asleep.
Her phone rang,
"Alex Cabot. Oh hi Liv. Yes, that actually sounds perfect. Where? Ok, I have to finish some things here and then I'll meet up with you. Thanks for the invite, I could use some company."
Alex relaxed a bit, she needed to let off a little steam after this week and a few hours at the local dive might be just the thing. She looked at the sea of papers on her desk and decided it was time to call it a day. She stood, straitened her suit, and pulled her long blond hair into a tight ponytail at the back of her head.
She always looked forward to seeing Olivia outside of work, though they rarely got the chance. For some reason the detective made her nervous, but in an intoxicating way. Alex tried to keep work and her personal life forcibly separate, but for the last few weeks Olivia had been popping up in her mind with increasing frequency. Her stomach jumped slightly and she smiled to herself, she felt like she was back in school and had just spotted her latest crush on campus.
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Twenty minutes later, Alex walked into the local bar. It was generally frequented by police and detectives, and tonight was no exception. Alex paused and looked around, she figured she had left her office so abruptly she may have beat Olivia there.
Alex stepped up to the bar, "Absolute martini, dry please." Alex stood out in this crowd, not that that was new to her. She wore a navy suit with a white high collared sleeveless blouse and heels that made her stand a good 6ft. She took off her glasses and put them in her bag as she waited for her drink.
The bartender nodded. He poured her drink and slid it charmingly down the bar to her. "That one's on me, you look like you've had a long week." Alex smiled at him warmly, "it has been, thank you."
As Alex took a sip of her martini, a figure slid up behind her, "What's a pretty little ADA like you doing in a place like this?"
Alex choked slightly on her drink, immediately recognizing Olivia's voice.
Alex whipped around, and struggled to recover her composure, "well, just hoping to meet some attractive detective of course, have you see any tonight?" Alex grinned at Olivia over her martini glass.
Now it was Olivia's turn to blush. She broke the ensuing silence by motioning to the bartender, "uhh..just the usual."
There had been a growing tension between the two women since Olivia had been able to elicit some of Alex's past exploits through means of several rounds a few weeks ago. It seemed that the seemingly impeccable blond lawyer's years at Bryn Mawr had consisted of significantly more than just lacrosse and time in the library. Further, learning that Alex was at least an "equal opportunity" dater had made Olivia see her with a renewed interest. It wasn't that Olivia hadn't noticed other women before, but something about Alex made her feel more strongly. Olivia felt like a new part of her was opening up the more time she spent with the blond ADA. There was an element of fear of the unknown involved, but mixed in equal parts with almost childlike excitement.
"Elliot's already sitting down, he said he can't stay for more than a drink or two. He has to get home to the family."
The two women took their drinks to a corner table towards the back of the bar. Elliot smiled and nodded at Alex. He secretly thought something was going on with the two of them, but knew he shouldn't say anything to Liv if he valued his life.
Olivia took a long drink of her beer, trying to calm herself somewhat. "So, I heard about the Stampson case getting settled."
"Yeah, you know if it had really been up to me we would have taken it to trial, or at least held out for more time."
"I know Alex, but you have to let it go, at least he's off the street.'
"For now anyway."
The two women lapsed into a silence, both concentrating on their drinks. Elliot spoke up,
"So, you two have any weekend plans? Er, um… either of you have plans I mean." Elliot lamely tried to cover for his Friedan slip.
Alex smiled, "After the week I've had my plans don't go much beyond tonight and several more of these," she held up her already nearly empty glass.
Eliot grinned at her, "fair enough, you deserve it."
Olivia finished her first beer and turned to the ADA, "in that case, you ready for another?"
Alex raised an eyebrow in response, "if I didn't know you better detective I'd think you were trying to get me drunk."
Olivia feigned innocence, "nothing of the sort counselor, just being friendly."
Elliot was laughing quietly to himself. He suddenly wished he didn't need to get home tonight. He had a feeling this was going to get interesting. As Olivia moved off towards the bar, Elliot leaned over to Alex, "so, is there something going on I should know about?" Elliot was dying to know, and he considered Alex the safer one to ask the question of. At least all she would do was sue him, rather than lay him out cold.
Alex paused, slightly surprised that Elliot was on to them, but not knowing the answer herself, she slipped into lawyer mode, "define 'something' detective."
"Oh, Alex, you know what I mean. I see how she looks at you when you walk in to the squad room."
Alex continued to hold him off, but filed that bit of information away for future reference.
She started to reply, but was saved by Olivia returning from the bar carrying their next round. She held out Alex's to her. Olivia caught a slight tension in the air, "so, whatcha guys talking about?"
The martini swirling around in Alex's otherwise empty stomach made her a bit more outspoken than she normally would have been. "Just you, Detective. Not that it's any of your business." She flashed a smile at Benson and slid down the bench, motioning Olivia to sit next to her.
Seeing Liv eagerly move to get closer to Alex, Elliot quickly finished his beer. And, setting it down on the table, turned to the women, "l think it's about time I went off home to the wife. Enjoy your night." He leaned to whisper in Alex's ear, "you owe me an explanation some time in the very near future counselor."
She gave him a look that would have floored most men, and a good number of women as well, "only if you're good detective."
After Elliot left, Alex turned back to Olivia. "So, how was your week?"
Olivia smiled at Alex's obvious transition back into small talk. "Can't complain. Well I can, but I won't, just the constant struggle to separate myself from the work at some point."
Alex admired the detective's fierce dedication to her work and the victims she worked for, but knew that in this line of work "being the job" led to inevitable breakdown for most people.
"I know, it's hard to get perspective sometimes seeing what we do on a daily basis, make sure you find time for yourself Liv."
"What about you Alex? You get just as wrapped up in this stuff as we do. You're just better at hiding it."
"Perhaps Liv, but that's my job. The law is there to give me the boundaries."
Olivia nodded, and took another pull of her beer, which was fast disappearing.
"Enough about work Detective, I'm here to forget about that for now. And I believe the last time we met like this I came off the worse for it, you are quite the interrogator Olivia. Now I can see how you get the perps to tell you what you want to know. So I believe tonight it's my turn." The second martini was nearly finished and Alex was getting bolder.
"Alright counselor, I'll let you 'put me on the stand' so to speak. But first I'm going to need round three.
Alex nodded, holding up her glass, "me too."
Once their drinks were re-filled, Olivia rounded on the ADA, "so, what do you want to know?"
Alex set down her glass, carefully, as her perception was beginning to get a little fuzzy around the edges. Maybe they should order some food, she thought to herself.
"What do I want to know…. How about we start with your first crush."
"What about it? Olivia smoothly replied.
"How about names, dates, etc."
"Alright, Tommy Ridgfield, 4th grade. He pushed me down on the playground and to show my interest, I slugged him and got sent home from school."
Alex snorted and giggled, "I hope you have better game than that by now detective."
Olivia raised an eyebrow at the ADA's use of the term "game," maybe she was gay after all. Benson was getting the idea she knew very little about this seemingly icy blonde lawyer.
"Alright, turnabout's fair play. What about you Miss Cabot?"
Alex took another drink, "well, the first one I acted on wasn't until boarding school. We used to have events with the neighboring boy's academy and Charlie Witworth asked me to a dance. I went and had a wonderfully awkward time of it."
Benson wasn't fooled, "what about the ones you didn't act on Alex?"
Alex paused, she was reluctant to answer but she had gone this far, "Alright, Molly Fisher. In the 8th grade I fell secretly for her, she was smart and funny and we had a great time together. But I knew I couldn't say how I really felt because I valued our friendship. Not to mention that at that point it wouldn't have gone over well in the Cabot clan."
Olivia slowly nodded, "you're full of surprises counselor."
Alex flashed Olivia a smile and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "you have NO idea detective."
Every hair on Olivia's body prickled with Alex's proximity. And it wasn't just her hair responding either. She was surprised to find that she had to restrain herself from pulling the blond in and kissing her.
Alex saw Olivia's expression change and knew her actions were having their desired effect. What was left of the rational side of her was quickly being washed away by the three martinis which were telling her to push on.
For Olivia's part she took a moment to notice her empty glass and pointed in the general direction of the bar. "going to… uhhh… another…. You?" Was all she could manage.
Alex smiled coyly back at her, "of course detective. Providing you're offering to carry me home if need be."
Olivia swallowed, her mind was picturing the possible ramifications of those words. She nodded and wordlessly headed to the bar. This girl was trouble, she thought to herself, but amazingly beautiful trouble at that.
Upon her return, Olivia noticed that Alex had let her hair down. Olivia shivered involuntarily, as if Alex could get any more alluring tonight….. something inside her was breaking down. She decided she would see where this was going, it was too hard to fight it anymore. Besides, people like Alex, male or female, were completely out of her league. She smiled to herself, if she didn't know better she would think this was Alex's idea of slumming.
She set the drinks down on the table and slid over to Alex, placing her hand on Alex's knee. "So, Miss Cabot, I'm feeling that we may be close to causing some gossip if we're seen together much longer in this place."
Alex picked up her best flirting tone, "and why's that detective? What do you imagine might happen?"
Now Olivia was stuck, "I was just suggesting we get out of here after this round."
Alex caught her meaning loud and clear, she smiled at how well the night was going. Around the 2nd drink she had decided to let go for tonight, she'd deal with real life when she found it again.
"Sounds like a plan Detective, does that offer to carry me home still stand?"
"Well, I wouldn't be much of a public servant if I didn't make sure one of New York's best assets didn't get home safe." Olivia grinned, now thoroughly enjoying the banter.
For Alex's part, she went about making her 4th martini disappear rapidly.
Once Olivia finished as well, they rose to leave. The blond grabbed her long abandoned blazer from the back of a chair and tossed it over her arm.
Alex, who hadn't been to her feet in awhile, stumbled, luckily into Olivia.
Olivia caught her, "careful there counselor, we're not home yet." Alex smiled wickedly and disentangled herself from the Detective. She turned to head for the door and bumped into a waiter carrying a tray of empty glasses which he narrowly saved from crashing onto the floor. Alex apologized, explaining it was because the detective behind her had gotten her extremely drunk. The waiter smiled at Olivia, who he knew well, and told Alex it was quite alright and that he completely understood.
Alex's hand snaked back and grabbed Olivia's wrist, leading her to the bar. She waived the bartender over and tossed down her platinum card, pantomiming that she would pay for both of their drinks. Olivia started to protest, but upon receiving a surprisingly-sharp-for-4-martinis 'Cabot stare,' she decided to wait and pick her battles.
Stepping outside, Olivia hailed them a cab. She opened the door and Alex tumbled inside, with Olivia following suit.
Alex composed herself enough to give the driver her address.