When Olivia opens her eyes, she is momentarily confused as there is another human being pressed up tightly against her, arms wrapped around her neck in a choke hold and one leg flung over her torso, and she feels a brief surge of panic, not understanding the situation, before cracking an eye open and seeing Amanda snuggled up so close to her, there is no space between them whatsoever. She starts to sigh in relief and then realizes it is difficult to even expel air, so she gently tries to unwind the other woman's arms from around her neck without waking her. It is still stunningly cold in the bedroom but she can feel the heat rolling off of Amanda in waves, and it is obvious now that the smaller woman is really sick.
She rests the back of her hand briefly against the blonde detective's forehead, Amanda's skin hot and sticky to the touch, and she frowns, hoping that whatever the problem is, it can easily be taken care of here in the apartment. She has no idea what time it is and is afraid to look outside, terrified to see how much more snow has fallen while they have been sleeping; the thought of having to spend the entire weekend and possibly beyond, cooped up like this with her colleagues just to much to bear right now. She doesn't think she can handle another night of them all sharing her bed and has no idea what they are going to do here all day if they can't even venture outside of the building. Not to mention the fact that the temperature is still so frigid, she can see her breath in the air.
Olivia does her best to raise her head off the pillow to look over at the others, wincing a little as she realizes that she has quite the headache. Carisi is curled up close behind Amanda, spooning her and apparently having forgotten his earlier remark about not touching her with a ten foot pole; and she feels a brief flicker of amusement when she sees Fin on the other side of the bed, obviously trying to get as far away from the rest of them as possible, hovering so close to the edge of the mattress that he is on the verge of falling to the floor. She becomes aware of a warm body resting between her legs, a furry head upon her knee, and reaches down to stroke a hand over one of the sleeping dog's ears.
Amanda's stranglehold suddenly becomes even tighter around her neck, the smaller woman whimpering in her sleep, and Olivia makes a choking sound as she tries again to loosen her colleague's arms. "Amanda," she gasps out. "Breathing is kind of becoming an issue here."
"Furry things are chasing me," the blonde detective mumbles, only loosening her hold on Olivia a tiny amount. "I need to get away from them."
"Furry things?" Olivia echos in confusion, rubbing a hand over her tired eyes. "Furry things like Frannie?"
At the mention of her name, Frannie raises her head off of Olivia's knee and she can feel her tail thumping against the quilt.
"No, furry things like monsters," Amanda responds sleepily, not opening her eyes.
There is a sudden explosive snore from Fin that shatters the relative silence of the room and makes Frannie jump, followed by an almost identical one from Carisi, and Olivia can't help but chuckle slightly. "I think the only monsters here are the ones sharing the bed with us. You're just dreaming, Amanda."
"I'm sick, Liv," the other woman murmurs.
"I know," Olivia whispers, feeling a wave of sympathy for her detective. "I'm going to see if I find anything in the medicine cabinet that will bring your fever down."
There is silence for a moment, followed by a short giggle. "I think I'm still a bit drunk," the other woman admits.
Olivia rolls her eyes, the corner of her lip quirking up into a smile. "Okay, probably best not to take any meds just yet, then."
"Maybe I should drink some more alcohol," Amanda suggests with a chuckle, her face pressed into Olivia's shoulder, muffling her scratchy, slurred voice. "Do you think it would help?"
"Definitely not," Olivia replies firmly. "I think any more drinking for the duration of everyone's stay here would be a very bad idea."
"Okay, then, drinking is bad," Amanda mumbles, suddenly giving a giant stretch, her hand narrowly missing Olivia's face, and they hear a grunt from one of the guys.
"Stop kicking me, Amanda," Carisi grumbles, turning away from her and moving closer to Fin in the bed.
"You spoon me, you die, Carisi," the other man warns, his voice deadpan.
Olivia sighs and squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, hoping to get a little more time to herself before everyone is up for the day. She needs to get out of bed and assess the situation they are in; see how much more snow has fallen, take inventory of everything she has available in the apartment, and try yet again to get in touch with her superintendent. She had just gone grocery shopping the day before but doesn't think she has enough to feed four adults, two of them men with giant appetites, plus a dog, if they are stuck here for a few days. She certainly doesn't have any dog food in the apartment and doesn't even know what she has that Frannie can eat.
When she raises her head again to look at the clock on the nightstand, she is surprised to see that it is barely 8am and they haven't been sleeping for very long. She whispers to the others that it is still early and to go back to sleep and there are no objections whatsoever, just some shifting around in the bed and a couple of grunts and groans, and then there is complete silence once again. She blows out a breath and eases her legs over the side of the mattress, trying not to disturb Frannie and finally disentangling herself from Amanda's death grip.
"Liv, where are you going?" the smaller woman suddenly protests, as Olivia creeps toward the door of the bedroom.
She stops short and turns around, Amanda's head raised off the pillow now, the blonde detective regarding her with bloodshot eyes and flushed cheeks, long hair in complete disarray. "Just out to the kitchen, Amanda," she whispers. "I need to figure some things out and get some stuff done. I thought you had gone back to sleep."
"Can you stay here?" Amanda asks, a hint of vulnerability in her tone now, and Olivia can see it in her eyes and expression; that she actually is still somewhat inebriated even after all these hours, and that she appears to be quite ill.
Olivia shakes her head, trying to stifle a sigh, but can't help the smile that is creeping across her lips again. "So not only are you needy when you're drunk, you're also needy when you're sick?" she teases gently.
"My head hurts," Amanda responds, not addressing the question at all, and she slumps back down onto the pillow and closes her eyes.
"Okay, hold on," Olivia whispers, hurrying from the bedroom and into the bathroom.
Knowing it's probably unsafe for her colleague to have any kind of medication yet, she soaks a cloth in cold water and then returns to her room, perching on the side of the bed and placing the cloth on Amanda's forehead. The smaller woman shivers slightly and then murmurs her thanks, and Olivia sits there for a moment, stroking her hand soothingly through the detective's tangled hair and rolling her eyes when she notices Fin reach out to smack Carisi as the younger man again gets too close to him in the bed.
"Keep your hands to yourself, man," the older detective mutters. "Geez, I think you need to get laid."
"I'm so cold," Carisi moans, still sounding half asleep and curling into a ball when Fin gives him a not-so-gentle shove as he tries to creep closer one more time.
"I think Carisi just wants to be the big spoon, Fin," Amanda chuckles tiredly. "Stop fighting it and just give in. He likes to snuggle. He's quite cuddly, actually. He'll keep you nice and warm."
"Ugh," Fin groans. "This hell is never ending."
"Okay guys, just try to go back to sleep, alright?" Olivia says softly. "I need to take care of some things, and quite frankly, I'm not ready to deal with all of you just yet today."
Carisi snorts. "Well, we appreciate your honesty, Liv. We'll try to stay out of your hair for awhile."
"Yeah, I could do with a few more hours of sleep," Fin mumbles in agreement. "But only if no one is touching me."
Olivia rolls her eyes again and gets to her feet. "Alright, everyone, no touching, okay? Just leave each other alone and try to get some more shut-eye. I'll see you in a little while."
It is silent again as she leaves the room, gently closing the door behind her and leaning against it in relief for a moment, sighing deeply and closing her eyes. She finds it baffling the way her tough, smart, badass group of detectives have turned into a bunch of whiny, argumentative, disgruntled toddlers now that they are away from the precinct and in a less than ideal situation, but she knows the excessive consumption of alcohol and the likely ensuing hangovers are certainly not helping things.
She trudges into the kitchen, trying to gather her strength for the day, and groans softly when she sees the state of her apartment. There are empty beer and wine bottles stacked along every available surface of the counter and table, as well as with some other empty bottles of alcohol that she doesn't even recognize the names of. The living room appears to be in much the same state, bottles lined up along the end tables and some lolling on the carpet, empty chip bags littered everywhere, crumbs all over the couch and what looks to be a dried pool of beer on one of the cushions. The karaoke machine lays on its side, the microphones nowhere to be found.
Olivia's bad mood only ratchets up another notch when she gathers up the courage to pull back the curtains on the balcony door and her breath catches in her throat when she finds herself staring out at a world of white, the city beyond literally buried in snow. The snow had definitely accumulated even more while they had slept and she immediately turns on the TV, flipping to the weather channel, needing to know how bad the situation is and how long this is likely to last.
She listens to the newscasters as she tries to gather up as many empty bottles as she can, frowning when she hears them say that they most likely won't see any relief from the brutal cold and snow for the next couple of days. She peers outside again, desperately trying to locate her colleague's cars in all the mess, a bizarre though occurring to her that maybe if she can find their vehicles, they can leave, but the cars are unrecognizable, mixing in with everything else that has been buried under mounds of white powder, and she closes her eyes, feeling the headache from lack of sleep and alcohol consumption and pure annoyance wrapping itself around her even more tightly.
Olivia is cloaked in a heavy blanket and is on the phone to her superintendent yet again, determined to finally get some answers about the temperature issue in the apartment, when her bedroom door swings open and Fin marches out of the room followed by Carisi.
"Whoa, what's going on?" she asks, eyebrows raised in surprised as the men shuffle into the living room, looking disheveled and exhausted and still wearing yesterday's clothes, bumping into each other as they come to a standstill in front of her. "I thought you were all going back to sleep for a few more hours."
"Carisi won't stop trying to cuddle with me and Amanda keeps whining about monsters, so I'm done," Fin snaps. "I need a bucket of coffee and some food." He looks as if his hangover has made him angry enough to rip someone's throat out, but Carisi appears quite placid next to him, rubbing a closed fist over one of his eyes like a tired little boy who hasn't gotten enough sleep.
"Alright, I'll make you guys some breakfast," Olivia says with a resigned sigh, the fact that her colleagues are up so early and she still can't get her superintendent on the phone not doing anything for her state of mind at the moment.
"Liv, I don't mean to be annoying but it's still really cold in here," Carisi pipes up softly, wrapping his arms around himself and shivering dramatically.
She thinks she hears Fin mutter the word, "Pussy," under his breath, and then Carisi protests yet again about the temperature, his voice coming out in a whine now.
Olivia stops short on her way to the kitchen, crossing her arms over her chest and fixing the younger man with a look that has him glancing away guiltily, a blush creeping across his cheeks.
"Thank you for stating the obvious, Carisi," she snaps. "I'm not sure what I would do without you around. If you don't want to annoy me, you could start by not speaking, okay?" Olivia knows she sounds harsh and tries to reign herself in, feeling more hungover than she had previously thought she was, the headache pulling tighter around her skull and claws of pain digging into her brain.
She sees her colleagues glancing at one another in surprise and rubs her hands over her face, immediately feeling contrite. "Sorry," Olivia murmurs. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I still can't get a hold of my superintendent but I'm going to go down to her unit in a little while if I don't hear back from her soon, okay? Hopefully it will be a little more comfortable in here later on but until then, you're welcome to take hot showers and use any of the blankets that you want. And I'll get started on breakfast. How does bacon and eggs sound?"
"Sounds great, Liv," Fin replies with a smile, both men now looking as contrite as she feels, and Carisi nods his agreement, gaze fixed on the ground as if in shame for bringing up such an obvious problem that Olivia has been working so hard to fix.
She smiles back at them, resolving to have more patience, and turns away to start getting things prepared for their meal, making sure to start the coffee before she does anything else. Before long the bacon and eggs are sizzling away in pans on top of the stove, and not only does it smell very enticing in the kitchen now, but the heat from the stove is adding some much-needed warmth to the room and to the apartment beyond.
Olivia hears her bedroom door open again and peers around the corner of the kitchen to see Amanda stumble unsteadily into the hallway, looking positively green, her blue eyes half closed and her blonde hair wild. She is about to ask if the other woman is okay, even though the answer is obvious, when Carisi speaks instead.
"Amanda, you look so pretty in the morning," he snickers and Amanda glares at him, giving him the finger before marching into the bathroom and slamming the door shut.
"Princess is in a bad mood, huh?" he mutters.
"I think that's a major hangover you're seeing there, buddy," Fin chuckles, slapping him on the back.
"Hangover?" Carisi snorts. "I'm pretty sure she's still drunk."
"As are you, Carisi," Fin states, staring at him and shaking his head.
Carisi looks sheepish. "Well, I do still feel a little buzzed," he admits. "At least I'm in a good mood, though. I'm not strutting around here, slamming doors and giving you guys the finger."
"She's not feeling well, guys," Olivia says. "Just leave her alone, okay?"
"Well, I wouldn't be feeling well either if I had drank my body weight in alcohol," Fin mutters.
"Fin, you had more to drink than any of us," Olivia points out.
"Yeah, but Fin can handle his liquor," Carisi chuckles. "Unlike little Mandy in there. I think it was too much for her."
"Shut up, Sonny," they hear Amanda call from the bathroom.
Olivia turns up the radio in the kitchen as she cooks, trying to drown out the irritating voices of her teammates and concentrates on scrambling the eggs and making sure the bacon isn't getting too well done. She shoos both Fin and Carisi out of the kitchen when they each come up behind her, peering over her shoulder to get a look at their breakfast, Fin making suggestions on how to improve it, and tells them to make themselves comfortable in the living room and feel free to watch anything on TV.
There is a sudden retching sound from behind her and Olivia whirls around from the stove, a spatula in one hand and a shaker of salt in the other, and groans when she sees Frannie bent over on the kitchen floor, throwing up.
"Oh, Frannie," she sighs, partly in concern and partly in disgust, remembering that the dog isn't feeling well and that was the reason Amanda had brought her over here in the first place. "You okay there, girl?"
Frannie straightens up and gives a sharp bark, her tail wagging madly when she sees Olivia's attention focused on her, and prances over to the stove, dancing around in a small circle for a moment before leaving the kitchen in a happy, high energy manner, looking none the worse for wear.
"Hey, Amanda, can I get some help in here?" Olivia calls, suddenly not in the mood for breakfast anymore. She stares at the small pile of vomit on the floor and feels like she might be sick as well, and looks away, glancing at the food on the stove that is steaming and smelling delicious, but it is a turn off now. She places the spatula and salt shaker on the counter and swallows hard, briefly pressing a hand over her mouth before gathering her resolve. She deals with brutal, graphic crimes on a daily basis and she should be able to handle a little dog vomit, but the alcohol she had consumed the night before is roiling unpleasantly in her stomach now, and she feels an intense wave of nausea before it subsides.
"Amanda!" Olivia calls again, but still doesn't receive an answer from the smaller woman.
Carisi walks into the kitchen, turning up his nose at what he sees on the floor but then reaches into the steaming pan and plucks out a piece of bacon, wincing at how hot it is before gingerly putting it into his mouth, leaning against the counter and making no move to help clean up the mess. "Mmm, tasty," he says in satisfaction around his mouthful of food, giving Olivia the thumbs-up sign. "Is everything almost ready here, Liv? I'm starving."
Olivia just looks at him and shakes her head. "Carisi, you're going to burn your tongue off," she chides. "Can you please ask Amanda to come in here and clean up this mess? I'm a little busy right now."
"No can do, boss," he responds, plucking at another piece of bacon and hissing as it burns his fingers, but popping it into his mouth again anyway. "She's currently puking in the bathroom."
Olivia sighs wearily. "So Amanda and her dog have both vomited in my apartment in the past few minutes? That's just fabulous."
"Maybe they both have the flu," Carisi suggests, still leaning against the counter as he eats, his gaze a bit unfocused and appearing quite unconcerned with the situation. "Maybe Amanda caught some kind of canine stomach flu from Frannie."
"Jesus, Carisi," Olivia mutters incredulously, staring at him like he has two heads. "You really are still drunk, aren't you? I don't think the stomach flu can cross species."
"Yes, it can, Liv," Carisi argues. "They've done studies on it. It's definitely possible."
"Okay, well, regardless of whether or not it's possible, maybe can we discuss this at another point in time," Olivia says, feeling her impatience rising again. "I'm kind of busy here."
Carisi shrugs and stumbles a little as he tries to sidestep the mess on the floor, and she rolls her eyes and gives him a gentle shove. "Go sit back down in the living room before you fall over," she suggests. "I'm making lots of coffee so you can all get sobered up, because I feel like I'm losing IQ points whenever I have a conversation with any of you. Honestly, how much alcohol did you people drink last night?"
"Well, judging by the fact that you don't even have enough space for all the empty bottles on the counter and the table and you had to start a pile on the floor, I'd say a lot," he chuckles, and Olivia rolls her eyes, pointing sternly toward the living room.
"Okay, I'll leave you alone," he murmurs, raising his hands in surrender and strolling out of the kitchen.
"What's going on?" Fin asks, passing Carisi on his way into the room and making a face when he sees what's on the floor.
"Well, Frannie is clearly ill with something, and I think Amanda has the flu," Olivia responds, pulling a roll of paper towels out of the cupboard.
"Wow, am I ever glad we all shared a bed last night, then," Fin replies sarcastically.
Olivia doesn't say anything, just lets out another weary sigh, and Fin takes the roll of paper towels from her. "Here, Liv, let me help you out," he says softly, and she smiles gratefully at him.
They clean up the mess together and then Olivia goes to check on Amanda, telling the guys they can serve themselves breakfast. She opens the bathroom door to find the smaller woman laying on the floor, hugging the base of the toilet, and she kneels down to pull her into a sitting position, still feeling the heat coming off of her, Amanda feeling like a furnace while the rest of them are still freezing.
"I took some meds, Liv," the blonde detective says groggily, her head lolling on Olivia's shoulder.
"Wait, what?" Olivia says, suddenly alarmed. "What did you take?"
"Just the flu meds I found in the medicine cabinet," Amanda replies, with a limp wave of her hand. "Just that over-the-counter stuff. It's all good."
"It's all good?" Olivia repeats with one eyebrow arched, reaching up to swipe the box off the counter and sighing in relief when she sees that the smaller woman did indeed take the correct medication. "Okay, these are the right meds, Amanda, but you're not entirely sober yet so it probably wasn't a good idea to take them so soon. What happened to waiting for a little while?"
"I'm sober now, Liv, don't worry," Amanda mumbles. "I'm just hungover. And the flu is making it worse."
"Honestly, Amanda, between the alcohol, the fever, and now the medication, you've barely had a coherent moment since you walked in the door yesterday," Olivia murmurs.
The other woman chuckles and Olivia rolls her eyes.
"It's not funny," she says in a serious tone, but Amanda is starting to giggle like she had during the night, and Olivia hauls her off the floor, murmuring, "Oh, god, not again," before walking her back into the bedroom and tucking her back into bed, placing a bucket beside her on the carpet and a glass of water on the nightstand, and telling the smaller woman that she will check on her again very soon.
When she passes the living room on the way back to the kitchen, she glances at the guys in amusement, Fin and Carisi sitting side by side on the couch, wrapped in blankets, scarfing down bacon and eggs and watching cartoons like children, briefly wrestling over the remote before Fin wrenches it out of the younger man's hands. Fin looks particularly ridiculous as he has a blanket wrapped all the way around his head with only his face poking out, so he is still able to shove his food hurriedly into his mouth and keep his gaze fixed firmly on the television.
Olivia quickly logs onto her laptop to look up foods that are good for dogs to eat when their stomachs are upset, and manages to find something in her cupboards to fix Frannie for breakfast before cleaning up the kitchen and continuing to collect all the empty bottles from the night before. She works her way systematically around the apartment, making sure to get every last bottle and chip bag, while Fin and Carisi take turns showering, Fin getting redressed in yesterday's clothes but Carisi walking around with just a towel wrapped around his hips, much to Olivia's chagrin. By the time she is done with her clean up, she sits down on one of the kitchen chairs, a hand to her forehead, feeling a little out of breath and in desperate need of a shower and more sleep.
Amanda exits the bedroom and wanders into the living room, sitting down gingerly on the couch, dressed in a pair of Olivia's sweats with her blond hair brushed to a shine, still looking a little green around the gills but a little more bright-eyed than she had previously. "Hey, Liv, I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed some of your clothes," the smaller woman says.
"No, why would I mind?" Olivia murmurs, with a wave of her hand. "What's mine is all of yours, apparently."
There is complete silence for a moment, Amanda sitting on the couch, petting Frannie, and the guys back in the bedrooms, and Olivia closes her eyes, relishing in the peaceful absence of sound, figuring it won't last for very long. As if on cue, Fin's angry voice suddenly shatters the blessed silence, and her eyes fly open.
"Carisi, come on, put some damn clothes on, man!" she hears him yell.
"Well, don't come in here while I'm getting changed," Carisi argues.
"The door was wide open!" Fin argues back. "How was I supposed to know you were going to whip off your towel the moment I walked into the room?"
"Well, I didn't know you were going to walk in right at that moment," Carisi replies.
"That's why you close the damn door!" Fin snaps back. "How was I supposed to know I was going to come face to face with a bare-assed man when I walked in here?"
"Well, you're still looking," Carisi replies, and she hears Amanda's snort of laughter from the couch.
"How can I stop looking when it's right in my damn face?" Fin snarls. "It's common sense to close a door before you're going to get changed."
"Okay, next time I will," Carisi says placidly.
"Carisi, you're still naked while we're having this argument. Put some damn clothes on now." Fin sounds like he has reached his breaking point. "I swear, if I have to see someone completely naked or hear someone threatening to get completely naked again, I'm going to lose my shit."
"Calm down, man, I'm getting dressed, okay?" Carisi sighs, and Olivia can hear him shuffling around in the spare bedroom.
"You can do it quicker than that," Fin mutters. "What is it with you uninhibited youngsters?"
"You're just a prude," Carisi chuckles. "Can't handle a little nudity there, Fin?"
"I can handle plenty of nudity," he mumbles back. "Just not from my colleagues. Never from my colleagues, alright? That shit is just too disturbing."
"Okay, you know what?" Olivia says, closing her eyes and pinching the skin between her eyebrows in exasperation. "Is it too much to ask that you all keep your clothes on unless you're behind closed doors? I mean, is this really something that needs to be brought up? Do I really need to be asking this of you?"
"Yeah, Carisi, this isn't really proper house guest etiquette," Amanda adds helpfully, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Oh, this coming from the woman who tried to put on a strip tease in front of all of us last night and then sleep naked in our boss' bed," he retorts.
"Hey, I was drunk," Amanda sneers. "What's your excuse?"
Olivia feels a sharp wave of annoyance and has to bite down hard on her lip before she explodes and says something she doesn't mean. Choosing to stay quiet, she instead strides quickly out of the apartment, trying not to slam the door behind her. She stands out in the hallway, hands clenched into fists, trying to reign in her anger and frustration, and begins pacing back and forth, eager to expel some of her restless energy, when the door opens quietly and Amanda slips into the hallway.
"You okay, Liv?" she asks softly.
"I'm fine, Amanda," Olivia replies, trying to sound casual but there is ice in her tone, an edge to her voice, and she knows it.
"I'm really sorry," the other woman says, her voice still soft. "I know I've been acting like an ass. I could blame it on the booze or the flu, but sometimes I'm just an ass anyway." Her tone is sheepish and self deprecating, and Olivia stops short and looks at her, the small woman shaking in the too-large sweats, her face leached of all color and gaze a little unfocused due to the fever or the meds or both.
"Amanda, you look like you're going to fall over," she says gently. "Why don't you go back to bed?"
"Because I want to make sure you're okay," Amanda says stubbornly. "I know it can't be easy having all of us cooped up in your home like this. I just wanted to say that you've been doing a great job taking care of me while I've been drunk and sick and I wanted to apologize for my behavior."
Olivia feels her heart melt a little and the anger begins to drain out of her. "It's okay, Amanda. You haven't been acting like any more of an ass than anyone else, trust me on that."
The corner of Amanda's lip lifts slightly.
"And I can do with a little more patience myself," Olivia adds. "I'm partly to blame too."
"You have the patience of a saint, Liv," Amanda assures her. "I would have pushed Carisi off the balcony a long time ago, if we were all stuck at my place together."
Olivia chuckles. "Trust me, Amanda, I've been trying my hardest not to push all of you off the balcony since you arrived here yesterday."
The smaller woman snickers. "Well, I can't say that I blame you."
Olivia drags her hands back through her thick hair, wishing this damn headache would loosen its grip a little. Maybe if she hadn't drank so much herself the night before, she would feel better equipped to handle the constant issues that keep cropping up with her colleagues; the petty fighting and the illnesses and the mess of her apartment. But for now at least, she feels like she can take care of the issue that is plaguing them the most.
"Look, Amanda, I appreciate you coming out here to check on me and to apologize, but why don't you go back to bed for a little while?" Olivia suggests. "I'm going to go downstairs to have a little talk with my superintendent, Miranda. She's usually home all day, so I can probably get in a face-to-face chat instead of trying to reach her on the phone all the time, because that clearly hasn't been working so far."
"I'll come with you, Liv," Amanda responds, sounding eager now. "I need to have a little break from the apartment. Our co-workers are pretty damn annoying, aren't they?"
"They sure are," Olivia replies, arching an eyebrow at her and Amanda grins back sheepishly. "I think it would be better if you stay here, though, Amanda. Again, you don't seem entirely sober or steady on your feet and I don't want you throwing up in the elevator."
"I'm fine, Liv," Amanda replies, with an unconcerned wave of her hand. "The meds are helping a lot with the vomiting. I just feel a little loopy but it's not a bad feeling. I kind of like it."
Olivia just looks at her and shakes her head, and then opens the door to the apartment again to tell the guys that they are leaving for a few minutes to talk to the superintendent. The men are sitting side by side on the couch once more, Fin leaning back against the cushions with his eyes closed and an arm flung dramatically across his forehead like he is completely fed up with the situation they are in, and Olivia is relieved to see that Carisi has clothes on again.
"That's great, Liv," Carisi says enthusiastically. "You give her hell! She shouldn't be ignoring all your phone calls. And I promise I'll only get naked in the bathroom from now on, okay?"
"Well, I'm certainly glad to hear that, Carisi," Olivia replies, rolling her eyes.
"You and me both," Fin mutters. "I'm never going to get that disturbing image out of my brain now. I may need to indulge in a little more alcohol consumption, Liv."
Olivia smirks at him. "Not happening, Fin. There is now a no-alcohol rule for the duration of your stay here, and if any of you breaks that rule, you'll be spending the rest of the weekend out in the hallway because you won't be welcome back in my apartment."
"Geez, Liv, you're a little strict," Carisi murmurs.
"See you guys shortly," Olivia says, shaking her head, relieved to be getting a short break from the place, even if it means she has to deal with her somewhat unpleasant and occasionally inappropriate superintendent.
Just as she is shutting the door, Frannie quickly skirts through the opening, trotting out into the hallway and down the hall to the elevators where Amanda is waiting, having already pressed the button.
"Whoa there, girl, get back here!" Olivia calls sternly, but Frannie is already stepping inside the elevator behind Amanda, and she hurriedly gets inside with them.
"Amanda, she needs to go back to my place," Olivia starts to say, but the doors are already closing and they are moving downwards at a rapid pace.
"It's fine, Liv, it's good for her to get out," Amanda answers, with an unconcerned wave of her hand. "She needs some exercise, anyway."
"There are no dogs allowed in this building, Amanda," Olivia sighs, rubbing a hand across her eyes.
"Oh. Oops." Amanda bites her lip and shrugs at her as the doors open on the main floor and Frannie is already exiting the elevator, like she knows exactly where they are going. "Well, I think it might be a bit too late, Liv."
"You think?" Olivia murmurs, sighing again, and exiting the elevator behind Frannie, the dog already making a beeline for the heavyset woman sitting in a chair in the hallway beside her open apartment door, smoking a cigarette and talking loudly on a cell phone.
When the woman sees the three of them coming toward her, she hangs up quickly and a lecherous grin spreads across her face. "Hey, there, Livvy, what's up, gorgeous? You're looking particularly scrumptious today."
"My apartment feels like an igloo," Olivia responds in a clipped tone, ignoring her superintendent's comment and knowing it couldn't be further from the truth, as she hasn't even had a chance to shower that day. "And you have neglected to respond to any of my inquiries about the situation, even though you clearly know how to use your phone. That's what's up, Miranda."
"Now, Livvy, don't get all hot under the collar," the other woman says with a gravelly laugh, voice choked with smoke. "It's not just your unit that is having issues, it's everyone's units. I'm trying to get the problems taken care of as fast as I can and you should be more comfortable soon, but the storm is complicating things now. Don't be thinking you can get special treatment just because you're a big-deal police officer, though." Olivia sees the woman watching her intently, a thick pink tongue poking out to run over her lower lip, and neglects to mention the fact that the temperature issues had started several days before the storm had hit.
"And you know you're welcome to come in here anytime you're too cold," the superintendent adds in a sultry tone. "I'd be happy to keep you warm, baby."
The chair creaks ominously under Miranda's weight as she leans forward toward Olivia, tossing her long purple-streaked hair over her shoulder and taking another drag from her cigarette. "Who's your friend over there?" she asks, catching sight of Amanda. "Hmm, you're cute too, little blondie. Well, in a sickly kind of way," she adds. "A bit young for me, though. I prefer my women menopausal."
Olivia hears Amanda snort lightly under her breath and then try to cover it up with a cough.
"You need to take better care of your girl there, Livvy," Miranda says, continuing to regard Amanda, her eyebrows raised now. "Little chickie looks like she's going to fall over."
Olivia glances over to see Amanda clutching onto the wall, her knees looking like they're about to buckle, and she sighs, wrapping an arm around the smaller woman's waist. "I told you to stay in bed, Amanda," she murmurs.
"Oh, so that's how it is?" Miranda asks, sounding hurt. "You like the younger women, Livvy? Where's the love for people your own age?"
Olivia's patience feels like it is at the breaking point again. "Look, Miranda, I just came down here to make sure the heat is going to be fixed soon. I'm not paying rent to live in an igloo, okay?"
"Hey, there are no dogs allowed in this building," the other woman suddenly snaps, finally tearing her eyes away from Olivia and Amanda and seeming to notice Frannie for the first time, the dog poking her head briefly into the open door of Miranda's apartment before sniffing around the woman's chair.
"Well, there's also no smoking in this building, so I guess we're even," Olivia snaps back, turning away with her arm still around Amanda, the smaller woman shaking slightly. "Come on, Frannie, let's go, girl."
"You know, I might be able to get the heat fixed faster for you, if you come inside for a bit," Miranda calls out in a suggestive tone. "We can create our own heat." There is a pause when the other woman seems to realize that Olivia isn't going to respond to her suggestive remarks. "Come on, Livvy, don't walk away angry."
"If it's not fixed by the end of the day, we're going to have a problem, Miranda," Olivia responds, not turning around and continuing to walk back toward the elevators with Amanda hanging off of her and Frannie trailing behind them.
"You're hot when you're angry, Livvy!" Miranda yells out, and Olivia looks impatiently up at the numbers above the elevator, willing the doors to open.
It is quiet once they are in the elevator again, Frannie sitting patiently on the floor by their feet, but the silence seems expectant, and Olivia can feel the small detective's hazy blue eyes fixed intently upon her. "What, Amanda?" she sighs.
"What?" the blonde woman repeats with a frown.
"You look like you want to say something."
"I do?"
"Just say what you want to say."
Amanda bites her lip for a moment. "Well, Miranda seems to have a little crush on you," she points out.
"Yes, I've noticed," Olivia replies dryly.
"She seems to ignore you a lot, though," Amanda says thoughtfully. "She doesn't pick up the phone when you call, even though she clearly likes you. Why is that? Maybe because she would rather talk to you in person. Or maybe she's mad because..."
Olivia raises her eyebrows expectantly, waiting for the other woman to finish. She again notices the glazed look in the detective's eyes, the slight trembling of her legs as she leans against the wall of the elevator, the meds and fever obviously hitting her hard, and knows something ridiculous is about to come out of her mouth.
"Maybe she's mad because you won't reciprocate her lady love, Livvy?" Amanda teases softly, using the same obnoxious nickname that Miranda had used.
Olivia glares at her. "What happened to not acting like an ass anymore? That didn't last too long. You really can't help yourself, can you?"
"Sorry." Amanda bites her lip again and blushes, looking away, but Olivia can see the grin threatening to break across her pale face.
She stands there with her arms crossed in front of her, staring hard at the younger woman, and then finally expels a laugh, her hangover and annoyance with the weekend in general rearing its ugly head. "You're such a little shit sometimes, you know that, Mandy?" She purposely uses the nickname that Carisi had taunted her with earlier, not caring about her vulgar choice of words.
The smaller woman looks up at her with eyebrows raised in surprise, her mouth dropping open a little at the uncharacteristic language, before laughing as well. "Well, I am on flu medication."
"Oh, so now you're going to blame it on the meds?" Olivia teases, even though she knows that is at least part of the reason. "I think it just comes naturally to you, this attitude of yours; like you said before."
They look at each other in silence for a moment, a note of challenge in both of their expressions, before they smirk at one another and then burst into laughter at the same time.
"God, what a shitty weekend this has been," Olivia groans, dragging her hands over her face in frustration.
"Yeah, I've certainly had better weekends than this," Amanda chuckles in acknowledgment. "I've had much worse, though, too. Honestly, Liv, I know we're all driving you crazy, but I'm glad we're together. I couldn't imagine being stuck in my apartment during this storm, just Frannie and I, and both us of sick."
"Well, I guess it's better that you're here with me, then," Olivia admits grudgingly, and Amanda smiles gratefully at her before suddenly clapping a hand over her mouth, that green tinge back in her complexion again.
"Oh, Amanda, don't you dare throw up in this elevator," Olivia warns, hovering close to the other woman, her hands in the air as if she can actually stop her from vomiting. "Just try to wait a second, okay? We're almost back to my place."
Amanda nods, her hands still covering her mouth, as Olivia guides her out of the elevator with Frannie quick on their heels. They are right at the apartment door, Olivia fumbling with her keys, and she thinks they are going to make it when Amanda suddenly leans over, hands on her knees, and throws up into the corner of the hallway. Olivia stifles a groan and rubs the other woman's back, the words, "I told you so," on her parted lips, but she wisely chooses to keep her mouth shut.
"Okay, I'm going to get you tucked back into bed before I clean this mess up," she says wearily.
"Sorry, Liv, I guess I should have stayed here," Amanda replies sheepishly, wiping a hand across her mouth.
Olivia once again refrains from saying anything as she unlocks her apartment door.
"Well, Liv, at least things can't possibly get any worse," Amanda assures her, as they open the door.
The first thing they hear upon reentering the apartment is the unmistakable sound of more vomiting. Olivia winces and catches a glimpse of Carisi bent over the toilet in the bathroom, retching violently, three blankets wrapped around him while he shivers.
"Oh no," she says in concern, feeling her heart sink in her chest. "What's going on?"
"I think Carisi has the flu now too," Fin responds, rolling his eyes as he strides out of the bathroom with an arm full of dirty, stinking towels. "We're dropping like flies here, Liv. Another one bites the dust."
Olivia covers her face with her hands and doesn't try to stifle her groan this time. "What were you saying about things not getting any worse, Amanda?"
