Olivia watched him shake hands with one of her detectives; Sonny Carissi and a soft parting smile from her other detective, Amanda Rollins. Dean Porter turned and looked through the window towards the Lieutenant's office. They made brief eye contact through the glass. Olivia held up her index finger at him as he entered her office at the same time she listened intently to Chief Dodds on the phone. He looked around her vast office admiring the generous space, thinking he could probably fit his practice putting green in here if it were his office. She came a long way he noted from the strong willed, scrupulous, and incredulous with perps, young detective that he met eight years ago. The six weeks they had spent in Oregon dismantling a radical environmentalist group was a true test of the fittest. Stubborn and sassy were the words he used to describe Detective Olivia Benson to his boss back in New York. By the end of the case he she had grown on him and in a way she never left his mind. He rubbed his chin. He was showered and shaved now from the thirty six hour stake out and his cologne wasn't immune from her senses. He watched the rolling of her eyes, obviously discontent with how the conversation was going. "It was a good take down. Yeah ok Chief I hear you loud and clear. Sorry to cut you short I have some pressing business to take care of, we'll talk soon-bye." Olivia let out a deep sigh and folded her hands on her massive desk. "You leaving?" Dean managed a weak smile. He was tired as all of them were not having slept in the last thirty six hours. SVU and the FBI took down a large child pornography ring that stretched from Massachusetts to Texas. He stiffened a bit then relaxed his legs. "Yeah. There was an awkward moment of silence before he spoke again. I wanted to say good-bye and thank you. We really worked a lot better this time around." Olivia stared at him for a second and curled her lips into a half smile.
"Yeah we did, she said pushing her chair back and coming around to stand within a few feet of him. She didn't work around the around the clock as the team did which was understandable because she had a toddler at home to tend to. He took notice of how her make up still looked like she had just applied it, her hair fell perfectly in place and her smell was addictive. She had joined the team at 5:30 this morning and they finally arrested the last three humps well after most Americans are preparing for bed. She extended her hand and Dean would have in the past had his hand readily available to take hers in his but this time he hesitated and she looked at him. Finally their palms met. His hand was warm, hers was clammy. The electricity wasn't the same as it was before. They both managed a sly smile. "Take care of yourself," Olivia said looking at the butterfly bandage above his eye that required 14 stitches. Dean pivoted to the door. "I'll forward you all my reports Lieutenant." He glanced over his shoulder and gave her a sideways wave while flashing a smile that only she was used to seeing. Olivia watched him as Fin entered the precinct and the two men shared words. Dean gave the detective a nod. "Hey nice working with you guys. You G boys aint too bad this time around."
"And you all weren't such a pain in the ass to work with this time around either." Fin smiled turning to head to his desk as Rollins and Carissi looked on. "What?" He asked looking at both of them. Carissi leaned over the side of Amanda's desk.
"Nothing," his partner said. The trio's eyes turned in the direction of the boss's office when the door closed and the blinds came down abruptly. Amanda gave Sonny a look as Fin looked at them.
"Was there ever something going on with Liv and Agent Porter?" Sonny asked. There was silence.
"Yeah, he and Liv dated awhile back ago, didn't end to well."
"Ahh well that explains a lot," Sonny added.
"Whatchu tryin to say?" Fin asked. He straightened himself and pulled at his tie.
"Uh nuttin, just that Porter had a hard time trying not to look at the Lieutenant the whole case, that's all I'm saying."
"Well don't let your imagination get the best of you. Whatever happened between them…it aint happenin."
"Never say never Fin. My grandmother always said, God rest her soul. No flame is ever extinguished. There's always a chance some breeze will blow back in and ignite it again."
"You watch too many of them shows on Lifetime Amanda." That remark elicited a chuckle from Sonny who in turn got an elbow from Rollins.
"Ow." He rubbed his ribs as Fin shook his head at the two then took his phone from his pocket to answer a call.
Later that evening as Olivia gave Noah his bath she let her thoughts drift back to the case. It was very warm for October. The sweat beaded across his forehead and into the creases on his face. Dean was fifty three years old but didn't look a day over forty. For his height, he moved through the small spaces in the root cellar not allowing his age to be an obstacle. Olivia was forty eight and in good shape as well. "You smell that?" he asked her.
"Smells like dirty diapers," Carissi said. Before Dean could dissipate the group the explosion caught them all off guard. "Lieutenant are you ok?" her detective asked coming to her aid. Yeah," she answered then looked around after the dust and debris settled. "Porter," she called when he didn't surface. Dean where are you?
"He's over there Liv," Sonny pointed guiding her to where Dean was with his hand on her back. He groaned from under the crumpled pile of drywall and wood?" Olivia charged to him. He got up slowly with her help from the rubble.
"Yeah, he said coughing. There was blood dripping from above his eyebrow. Olivia searched frantically for something to wipe the cut with. "Momma-chip," Noah said showing her his toy boat. "Yes baby that's a ship. Can you say shhhip?" He splashed his boat in the water then looked up and whispered back. "Chhhhip." Noah was two now and some letter sounds for his age were normal. Olivia was not worried. "Mr. Noah the waters getting cool so it's time to get out so mommy can read you a bed time story. Let's put your ship into porter." She blinked and shook her head. "Let's put your ship up here. "Good boy, thank you sweet heart." She grabbed a towel and lifted him out of the tub.
The morning came and Olivia found Amanda fixing a cup of tea. "Morning."
"Hey-morning Lietennant."
"How are you feeling Amanda?" She dunked her teabag.
"I've had better mornings thanks."
"A friend of mine swore by peppermint tea for morning sickness." Rollins pulled out a peppermint stick and began to unwrap it giving her boss a quick smile as she headed over to her desk.
"You taking Noah trick or treating this weekend or is he too young to understand the whole Halloween thing?" Olivia followed her to her desk.
"Well he had a Halloween party at his daycare and he tells me every day since then he wants to be a dinosaur or a minion.
"Go with the dinosaur, he'll be set apart from all the other two million lil boy minions."
"And the other thing is there's not many kids in my building so is it worth it knocking on three doors? I need to move. Give Noah a yard to play in and kids he can play with in the neighborhood."
"Well you could do the store to store trick or treat." Olivia gave her a look then headed into her office. Olivia took Noah to Lucy's sister's neighborhood. She had a four year old nephew who Noah took a liking to. A half hour later and about twenty houses in Olivia was ready to call it a night. She carried Noah. "I think that's enough candy for him. I really don't want him eating too many sweets."
"Sure. We're just gonna finish up down this block." She reached in and gave Noah a hug and kiss. Night night my sweet little lamb, I'll see you on Monday. Good night Liv, drive safe."
"Thanks Lucy see you Monday." She held Noah's hand waving bye bye. She didn't even get onto the expressway before Noah was asleep. After negotiating with a cranky kid and prying him out of his costume and brushing his teeth she finally got him down. A glass of merlot and the couch was just what she needed but she decided to take a bath instead and with her wine. The red liquid coursed through her and the warm water relaxed her as she soaked and let he mind drift off.
They sat down allowing their coffees to cool before taking a sip. Olivia looked everywhere but at Porter. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No, its just that I never dreamt that I would ever see you again or be sitting down having a cup of coffee with you after all this time." Dead silence took over and it wasn't until Olivia's phone rang that words were spoken.
"Lucy hi is anything wrong with Noah?" It was out of the ordinary for Lucy to call during the day so anytime Lucy's name was displayed on her screen sent her into a mini panic.
"Oh no everything is fine, I just wanted to remind you that I leave early tonight so I didn't want you to forget because I know that you're working a case."
"I didn't forget I'll be there by five."
"Alright thanks Liv."
"Bye now." She set her phone down and looked out the window at the morning mix of tourists and locals and onslaught of taxi's and motorists setting out to work on this warm October morning. Porter never took his eyes off her.
"You're starring again."
"Sorry." He took a sip of his coffee. She noticed he still stirred his coffee with his index finger and not the spoon provided on the saucer. He always had a habit of tasting it before knowing how much sugar to add. Oliviaremembered once she told him he should take a picture of her because it would last longer. When they dated it always made her feel good that he admired her beauty and paid attention to the smallest of details. The space at their table was not very giving so a wrong reach would make their hands collide. Dean's hands were big and strong and she loved how they once roamed all over body. The places he touched her that would send her body into convulsions. Her eyes traveled up his suit coat and over to his face. She was grateful that his attention was at the front counter now. His face was handsomely chiseled; His eyes were deep and brown, very serious but also very loving. His lips still had that full effect and his roman stature of a nose made him a very attractive man. She looked away fast when his attention returned to their table.
"I hope it's not going to be a problem but I as you heard, I need to leave to relieve my nanny."
"I totally understand-family comes first. Everything ok?" She curled the corners of her mouth upwards-a lazy attempt at a smile. Olivia took a small sip and looked at her watch. "Yeah fine… thanks…the others should be arriving soon."
Dean noticed the time too. "So who does your son look like you or your husband?" The question hit her hard. She thought she would never have to talk about Johnny Drake again.