Chapter 64: Clandestine Meeting
The drive over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was quiet, each member of the team immersed in their own thoughts. The Joes were always quiet at the start of a mission, each mentally preparing themselves for whatever might happen.
Alex was quiet, staring out the window at the heartbreakingly-familiar sight of New York's skyline passing outside the window. It had been almost two years since she'd last seen the city she called home; too long—a lifetime—in terms of what had happened since she left. She wasn't the same person she was when she'd left.
Velez had managed to completely destroy her security and her life. There was very little of the old Alex Cabot left in the Alex Cabot who now sat here with a handful of military personnel on her way to another foreign location. If I come back from this one, I'm never leaving home again. And this time, she allowed herself to believe she might actually make it back. Tienne can be awfully convincing when he's serious. And provided that the entire operation is sanctioned this time-no, scratch that, I'm pretty sure this is sanctioned because there's too many people talking about it. Lieutenant General Johnson, and the Secretary of Defense, for pity's sake, I never once thought I'd ever get this high up in the government. Not exactly the way I would have liked to meet someone that important, but there it is.
And that brought up another issue; where was home? New York City was home for her, but in terms of somewhere where she could actually lie down and sleep, she was essentially homeless. She wasn't quite sure what she'd do if or when she got back. The Joes have been extraordinarily generous with their base, their time, help, training, even my own quarters—jeez, I'm even starting to sound like them—but none of that is permanent; what do I do when this is over? I'm positive Liv will let me crash with her until I can afford to get another place again…
And that thought brought tears to her eyes. Oh God, Liv, I'm so sorry. When I sassed Rafael Gaviria back that day in my office, I never dreamed this is where it would end. She squeezed her eyes shut, seeing behind her eyelids Olivia strapped to the chair, twitching and screaming. I knew Sandra hated me but I never dreamed she was in league with Velez. In bed with him, even. And Don and Elliot must be going absolutely frantic by now, wondering where she is and what's happened to her. They know I'm alive—do they know that I'm going to get her? And Clayton—he looked like he was in hell watching her. Leaving aside the fact that he's career military—a General—and protecting civilians is drummed into every last corner of his mind…he was also dating her. That relationship isn't more than a couple of weeks old, and already it's being tested. I hope they both make it. I hope they both survive. Clayton is a very good man; I can see what Liv sees in him from the few encounters I had with him and from what his soldiers say about him, and I hope there's a chance for her to get to know him better.
She sighed—and jerked reflexively when another hand touched hers. She turned her head, and saw Ettienne looking at her. Gently, he reached up and ran a thumb along her newly-repaired cheekbone, wiping away the traces of tears there, then wordlessly his hand slipped into hers, and gave hers a hard squeeze, and she knew what he was trying to say before he said it. "It'll be okay, Alex. We'll get through this." Not 'We'll get you through this', as in himself and the Joes; this was a very personal promise, that he himself would protect her through this last leg of an incredibly long, bizarre, complicated journey, a journey that had lasted for five years, a journey that she'd mostly undertaken alone. And she felt a warm glow start somewhere in the region of her heart as she realized that at least for this she wouldn't be alone, that she had someone who could physically protect her and wasn't intimidated by her mind and her guts, someone she could depend on and lean on when she simply couldn't go on anymore. She'd found what she was looking for in a man in the most unlikeliest place, in the most unexpected of ways.
I love him. I really do. The glow spread. I think I knew that, but…I've been sort of…numb, through this whole recovery, and I don't know if now is the time to tell him…but he's going to risk his life for me, and if he dies for me I'll never forgive myself for not telling him...like I didn't tell Kris…
She leaned across the empty space between their two seats and kissed him, long and deep, fervently. "I love you," she whispered, and the smile that broke across his face told her that he knew just what had kept her from saying that before.
"I love you too, Alex," he whispered.
"Oh for pity's sake. Get a room, you two!" came Scarlett's cheerfully exasperated voice from behind them, and Alex and Ettienne broke off the kiss to a chorus of chuckles from the other occupants of the vehicle. "In fact, Ettienne, I know for certain you have some leave time coming up. When all this is over, why don't you take some time off? I can personally recommend this beach in New Zealand where clothes are definitely optional…"
The laughter this time was heartier and heartfelt.
There was some sort of tie-up at the security gate in front of Fort Hamilton; after about three minutes of waiting their driver steered around it and entered by a smaller side gate marked 'Authorized personnel only.'
As they got out they were met by a young man, a corporal by the patch on his arm, who saluted Beach Head respectfully. "Sergeant Major, Sir! Garrison Commander Gold will be here to greet you momentarily, Sir!"
"At ease, Corporal. What's all the fuss at the gate?" BeachHead waved at the knot of personnel grouped around the front gate.
"A couple of civilian law enforcement officers want to interview a soldier, Sir." The young Private sounded slightly less uptight as he answered. "They won't take no for an answer." The Joes all craned their head to look, and Alex suddenly gave a little gasp.
"What's wrong?" Beach Head raised an eyebrow; she'd carefully shifted her stance so that her face was no longer in view of the knot of people by the gate, but her face…she looked like she was barely suppressing the desire to run over there, and her anguish was obvious.
"The guy in the dark blue suit is the Chief of Detectives. And the other two…it's El and Don." And then, seeing their puzzled looks, she explained, "Olivia's partner and their captain. Don's the one who gave me my gun." She swallowed hard. "They must be going frantic. Oh God. I wish there were some way I could tell them what's going on."
And at that moment a tall man in navy blue dress uniform came over and saluted. "Good day, Sergeant Major. Colonel Michael Gold." He saw their looks. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Sir. Two of the civilians at the gate are friends of Private Cabot, and they are obviously worried about Miss Benson's having been kidnapped along with General Abernathy."
"I see." The Colonel looked at Alex searchingly for a moment, then turned. "Corporal Haver, have the three law enforcement officers taken to visitor's waiting." As the Corporal hurried off, the man turned to Alex. "Private. Do you trust these men?"
"Sir. El and Don, yes. Elliot's a former Marine, and Don's a former Green Beret, Vietnam. I don't know about the Chief of Detectives, though."
"If sworn to confidentiality, will they keep a secret?"
"Sir, I was in Federal WitSec for two years. They knew about it and didn't tell anyone, not even when it looked like they would go to jail for it. So yes. I trust them with my life and my secrets."
Gold checked his watch. "The transport for Miami leaves in an hour. I can give you ten minutes."
"Sir…" Alex swallowed. "Thank you, Sir." She snapped a salute.
Gould looked amused. "You really have 'gone native' with us, haven't you? I almost can't tell you're actually a civilian."
"I had the best teachers, Sir." She heard Scarlett's amused chuckle behind her, saw Gold's answering grin.
"Come on inside. While I talk to their commanding officer—the Chief of Detectives—you can have a private word with your friends."
"Alex!"
She abandoned all pretense at military formality and ran across the room, throwing her arms around first Elliot, then Don. "Oh, God, I've missed you guys, I can't tell you…" her eyes weren't quite dry.
Don didn't say anything, just hugged her tightly, then stepped back at arm's length and looked her over critically. "You look…different."
She blushed pink. "The scars will fade after a little while."
"I'm not talking about the scars." His eyes took in the red scar line at the corner of her eye, then dismissed it. "I'm talking about you. You're different. And it's not just the fatigues." He looked her over again. "Though I have to say you look better in them than I did."
She started to laugh, a little hysterically. "I'll take that as a compliment." She sobered. "I don't have much time, and there are a lot of things I can't tell you. But I assume you came here because Olivia's missing and you're pretty sure it had something to do with me."
Don nodded. "We found a Desert Eagle and a military-issue knife in Olivia's apartment; the gun had been used to shoot two men who were Colombian nationals who had no paperwork identifying their right of entry to the US. Crime lab ran the prints on the gun and came up with the name of Clayton Abernathy, US Army, but didn't turn up anything else; the military file is heavily redacted to protect what is obviously confidential information."
"The Colombian nationals were hired by Cesar Velez. He's been on my tail for the last three years I've been at the ICC. General Hawk was visiting Olivia, walked in on her kidnapping. He did his best but when Olivia's life was threatened he capitulated rather than put her life in danger. Velez contacted the special forces team at the facility at which I was staying and offered to trade my life for theirs." She took a deep breath. "In Medellin."
"No. We do not negotiate with terrorists." Elliot folded his arms. "That's the first thing they drum into us at training."
Alex shook her head firmly. "I can't give you all the details. The only thing I can tell you is that there is something being done about it."
Don looked at her, eyes wide. "You're going to Medellin. With the force that's going to try and liberate Olivia and General Abernathy."
"I can't tell you that."
"Like hell!" Elliot exploded. "Despite the uniform, Alex, you're not military and are not bound by military law…"
"Elliot." Alex's pronunciation of his name stopped him instantly; he, never having heard that tone before from her, stared at her like she'd grown a second head. "For the purposes of this mission and for Olivia's sake, yes, I am military at the moment. And I don't care what you think about that." She saw his face. "El, please understand. Cesar Velez has ruined five years of my life, changed me in ways I never thought I'd change, put me through unimaginable experiences. I won't let him do the same to Olivia, okay? It's time for this to end. One way or another. If I don't come back, fine. I've accepted that. But I will not let him have Olivia, she's innocent in all of this and didn't deserve to be dragged into this…chess game. My white queen to Velez's black king. It ends now, Elliot." She stepped back. "I won't make any promises. I can't promise that we'll get Olivia back, or what state she'll be in if we do. But I will make the effort, and I have a group of friends who are willing and more than able to help. Maybe someday I'll be able to tell you everything, but right now we're on a tight schedule. I'm sorry. It was extraordinarily kind of them just to give me this much."
Elliot opened his mouth to say something, but Don looked at him, and he shut up. "Alex. I understand that you can't tell us certain things, but…are you okay? You're not being coerced into doing this, are you?"
Alex shook her head. "No. Not this time. This time my eyes are wide open and I'm prepared."
"'Not this time' implies that you were before."
Alex throttled down the impulse to tell them everything. She didn't know how much she could actually reveal, and no idea how much of General Clancy's involvement with her capture and imprisonment wasn't highly classified. None, she suspected; treason at this high a level within the American military would seriously hurt the people's faith in their government, and while she knew that the topic would eventually end up as a John Munch Conspiracy Of The Week Special, she suspected that the actual truth would never be released. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you that."
"You're even starting to sound like one of them."
She frowned, stung. "Since when was this about 'them' and 'us', Elliot? And don't forget, you used to be one of 'them', as you so colorfully put it." She could feel an angry flush rising to her cheeks. "We're all on the same page. We want the same thing. I want Olivia back as much as you do. I want Velez dead more than you do. So don't you dare draw that line, Elliot Stabler." She knew he and Don were both staring, but she couldn't help it; the Joes had been completely on her side in all of this, and she would defend them even against Elliot if she had to, as she would all her friends, as she'd defended him and Olivia on several occasions. "There's no 'them' and no 'us'. It's 'we'."
"All right." Don stepped in, as he always did when his 'kids' argued. "Well, we want both you and Olivia back safe and sound, Alex. Tell them that." He stepped forward, gave her a hug. "Take care of yourself," he whispered.
"I will. You take care too. I'll see you when I get back."
Despite Elliot's words, he hugged her just as tightly. "Stay safe," was all he said, but she felt his real meaning in his hug. He was terrified for Olivia and for Alex herself, and yet helpless to do anything about it, and whenever Elliot Stabler felt helpless about something he lashed out. She was used to it by now and didn't hold it against him as she hugged him back. "Thanks, Elliot." And she left the room, head high, step firm, ready for whatever lay ahead.