In all the years Olivia worked for SVU she had learned to master the fine art of keeping her cool in all kinds of volatile situations, hostile victims and witnesses, hostage situations, death threats, the works. So she fell back on all those past experiences as she kept her voice neutral but calm, held her hands in front of her in a non-aggressive manner, and said slowly, emphasizing every word, "Voight, calm down…and take your hands off Jay's throat."
Hank had Halstead on his knees in the grass and his hands locked in a death grip around the younger cop's neck, and his eyes burned with fury as he looked at Jay, as if he were trying to bore holes in his skull just by glaring at him. Jay weakly had his hands on Voight's trying to pull them off as he choked and coughed. Voight and Olivia had crept around from the backyard to size up the threat, and all they'd seen was one man standing in the yard, and Voight had clocked him before discovering it was Halstead, once he actually knew it he especially flew into a rage and seemed intent on murdering the younger man.
"Hank," Olivia said again, "take, your hands, off, and let him breathe."
Voight tightened his grip even harder for a couple seconds, then finally released Jay's neck. Halstead all but fell on his face as the momentum shifted without Voight's death grip to hold him up. He sucked in a couple of gasping, wheezing breaths and got to his feet, and tried to talk but all he got out was a faint, "Sarge" before he heard a sharp sound cut through the air and felt one whole side of his face burning.
"You little shit!" Voight screamed at his detective after he bitch slapped Jay, "What the hell do you think you're doing, you little prick?"
"Sergeant, I…" Jay tried again to speak, but found himself being simultaneously strangled and throttled by his boss.
"You come out here in the middle of the night trying to scare everybody half to death, what the hell did you think you were doing?" Voight continued to berate the younger cop. "Do you realize what you've put me through tonight? Put my whole family through!"
"Voight, listen…" Jay weakly muttered as Hank let go of his neck again.
"Hank, calm down," Olivia said as she reached over and touched his arm.
Instead, Voight yelled loud enough for people in Glenview to hear, "I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! My daughter-in-law and grandson are in that house, scared to death that somebody was here to kill them." He turned back to Halstead and continued, "Do you have any idea what I had to go through just to get them back here for a visit? And now you're going to send them running back to Arizona and I never see my grandson again, do you have any idea how much that thought scares the hell out of me? They're all the family I have left and I'm not about to let anything happen to them, do you get that? You piece of shit, what do you have to say for yourself?"
Jay took a few ragged breaths and waited to see if he would be allowed to speak this time. He looked at Voight, and at Olivia, and finally raised his arm and said into the cuff of his sleeve, "Okay guys, the jig's up. Lights."
Hank and Olivia were immediately blinded by what felt like a thousand beams of light. Shielding their eyes they saw it was the headlights of every car parked out in the street turning on, the doors opened and people started getting out of their cars. The two sergeants stayed where they were to see what was unfolding. At first the occupants of the cars were hidden behind the headlights, then they can around and Voight was able to make out the people standing in the street.
Erin.
Al.
Trudy.
Antonio.
Atwater.
Ruzek.
Burgess.
And over by the other cars Voight could see it was Trudy's husband, Randy, also Christopher Herrmann, Joe Cruz, Brian Zvonecek, Matt Casey and Gabby Dawson, and Wallace Boden.
"What the hell is this?" Voight asked, suddenly not feeling sure of anything.
Halstead inhaled and exhaled raggedly a few more times, then explained, "Well since we all knew that Olive was coming to visit, we reached a unanimous decision to work neighborhood watch, this neighborhood."
"What?" Hank was dumbfounded.
"We decided not to take any chances, and stand guard tonight," Halstead answered. "That way if anybody came here looking to start something, we were going to finish it."
"Come on, Hank," Erin said as she folded her arms, "you can't really say you're surprised. We all know how important this is to you."
Voight looked around at his people, and saw the solemn looks on their faces that said they came tonight ready to stand their ground. He turned to his desk sergeant and couldn't think of anything to say except, "Trudy?"
"What can I say, Hank?" she shrugged, "we're family, a very unconventional, dysfunctional family, but we're family…"
Mouch cleared his throat and offered his own two cents, "That includes in-laws."
Voight turned and now faced the members of Firehouse 51. "Chief?"
Boden had his usual no-nonsense look on his face as he told Hank, "We have our differences on our jobs, but I know how important family is, and how vital it is to keep them safe."
Hank and Olivia's attention was turned to the sound of somebody sobbing. They turned and saw Olive standing at the front door with Daniel clutched against her.
Olivia was the first one to make a move. She walked up to the porch and gestured back to the crowd in the street.
"Do you see this, Olive?" she asked, "This is the family you married into, this is the family your son's going to know when he grows up." She looked back at the cops and firefighters and added, "Look at everybody who came here tonight to keep you two safe."
Olive was near hysterics and about doubled over, Olivia supported her to stay on her feet. Voight came up on the porch and took his grandson.
"Hey, little man," he said as he turned towards the street, "come here, I got some people who want to meet you."
Of course the people from his house already knew his grandson, and that didn't stop any of them from fussing over him, especially Erin. Firehouse 51 on the other hand had not yet had the privilege; Gabby gushed over how adorable he was, Herrmann having five kids under his own belt took Daniel from Voight with the finesse of a well experienced father and decided to impart some of his points of wisdom on the child. Cruz, Otis and Mouch all made a bunch of ridiculous faces and gibberish noises, as might've been more common when interacting with a newborn. Wallace took the toddler from Voight and looked the small boy in his tired eyes and told him, "Hey little dude, welcome to the family..." he looked at the others and added, "A large, and very unusual family," that garnered a few laughs from the others, "but one that'll have your back for the rest of your life. You can count on it."
"I wish you could stay longer," Voight said as he and Olivia helped Olive get ready to head back to the airport.
"I do too, Hank," she told him. "It's been a great visit." She went over to the Intelligence sergeant and hugged him. "I'm glad that Daniel is going to know his family."
"Come back soon, alright?" Voight asked. "I don't want to wake up one day and he's already graduating high school."
"I will, when I get the chance," Olive said. "I promise."
Voight picked up his grandson and hugged him one last time and murmured into his ear, "Don't make trouble for your poor mother, you got that?" To actually get a response, he tickled the boy, causing him to giggle over his pacifier. Voight looked him in the eyes and kissed him on the forehead. "Be good, little man, I'll see you soon. I love you."
Olive and Olivia hugged and said their goodbyes, Olivia asked, "Are you sure you don't want us to go with you to the airport?"
"No, we'll be fine," Olive answered, and told Hank, "And I'll call you when we get home."
"I look forward to it," he replied.
They all said another round of goodbyes, and then Olive was out the door with Daniel, and it was just Hank and Olivia again.
"Well, I'd say that went well," she said.
"Mm-hmm," Voight grunted as he pressed his back against the door.
"Did you apologize to Jay for trying to kill him?" Olivia asked.
"Mm-mm," Voight shook his head.
Olivia smirked at him knowingly, "Are you going to?"
"One of these decades," Hank answered. "He should've told me."
"You okay?" she asked.
Voight nodded and headed to the living room. Olivia followed him and sat down on the couch beside him. She looked at him and could see despite his rock hard exterior, that his eyes were shining with tears that had just formed.
"I've missed them so much," he said.
Olivia pulled him to her and hugged him. She could just imagine how many memories had to have come flooding back to the last time Voight saw his daughter-in-law and grandson, right after his son's murder.
She could feel Voight's heart beating against her chest, felt as well as heard him breathe heavily a couple times.
"Thank you," he told her. "Thank you for being here, you don't know what it meant to me."
"I know what it meant to me," Olivia said quietly. She had never told Hank about Dodds, didn't want to stir up any more memories of that dark chapter in both their lives. It had been nice to be able to confide in somebody outside of her unit about what had happened, all her guilt and her doubts. It dawned on her that that must've been what it was like for Voight to open up to her about Justin's murder.
Voight pulled back from Olivia and kissed her, once on the cheek, once on the forehead, and once on the lips.
"I love you," he told her.
She smiled at him and said, "I love you too."
That night Olivia and Hank lay in bed alongside each other. They'd had a couple glasses of wine with dinner and a couple more after dinner and now were content to do nothing until the next morning.
"So you'll be going back tomorrow?" Voight asked.
Olivia sighed, "Yep. These weekends never last long enough."
"Ain't it the truth."
Voight turned on his side and leaned over and kissed her. This was usually as far as physical intimacy got between them, Voight's conscience always got the better of him and made sure things couldn't go any further.
And like clockwork...Hank pulled back and looked at her.
"I'm sorry," he told her. "I wish it could go further than this, but I just can't."
"It's alright, Hank, I understand," Olivia told him. She pushed up on her elbow and sat up against the pillows and said to him, "But I can't help wondering something. When you and Camille were married, did you two discuss what to do if something happened to one of you?"
"Oh yeah," Voight said, "any relationship with a cop always has that discussion, as you know there are a thousand ways that you can buy it on the job."
"What did you two decide?" Olivia asked.
"I told her if anything happened to me, to find somebody who treated her right and remarry, help her raise Justin," Hank answered.
Olivia nodded, and waited a moment, before asking, "And you didn't see that as her being unfaithful to you?"
"Hell no," Voight responded, "I knew if I died on the job, she'd need somebody to help her wrangle that boy into adulthood."
"And what did Camille want for you?" Olivia asked.
"The same thing she said when we found out her cancer had spread," Voight bent his knees and stared down at the comforter. "She said find someone who made me happy." He laughed, "She even had someone picked out."
"Who?"
Voight shook his head. "You don't want to know. In all fairness, I told her if I died, and Alvin Olinsky ever left his wife, that she should marry him, if she could deal with me, Al'd be a breeze."
"So?" Olivia probed.
Voight shook his head and looked off to the side. "It's different, don't ask me why it is, it just is."
Olivia smiled at him and reached her hand over to his and told him, "I understand."
He looked at her, and told her, "That's what I love about you. Look, I can't promise anything, and anytime you want to call this off, I understand."
"Hank."
"Let me finish...maybe sometime when one of us is visiting the other, maybe I'll be able to test the limits of my conscience, and we could see if something happens...just not now."
She nodded, "That's fine, anything you're comfortable with, that's what we'll do."
Voight grunted and said, "I thought that's usually the man's line in a relationship."
Olivia laughed.
"Olivia, you awake?"
She wasn't until that point, even now she couldn't quite get her eyes open. She rolled on her side and asked Voight, "What time is it?"
"3 o' clock."
"Ugh," Olivia grabbed the pillow behind her and buried her head under it.
"Olivia, wake up, I want to tell you something," Voight said.
"What?" she asked as she threw the pillow aside and forced her eyes open.
Voight was wide awake, and sitting up on his side of the bed again. He looked at her and said, "The next time you got some vacation days coming, why don't you come on out and spend them with me?"
Olivia closed her eyes again and turned on her side, "Two weeks in this bed with you? Sounds like fun."
"Who said anything about here?" Voight asked. "Will you wake up? I'm serious about this."
Olivia forced her eyes open again and asked, "What is it?"
He looked at her and asked, "Did I ever tell you about my condo in Myrtle Beach?"
Olivia blinked and looked at him like he was nuts. "I thought that was just part of your dirty cop cover."
"The actual condo I used at the time, yeah, but I got my own place out there," Voight explained. "Two weeks on the beach, lot of sun, no neighbors, be a nice change of pace from the three feet of snow either of us gets buried under."
"Mmm, sounds nice," Olivia said as she laid back down, "does it have a bed?"
"Yes."
"As nice as this one?"
Voight smirked. "Better."
"Hmm, sounds great," she said as she closed her eyes again. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Olivia."
She felt the presence of Voight hovering over her and felt him kiss her on the forehead, and heard his raspy voice, "Love you."
"Love you too," she said, and she was out like a light.
Voight pulled his car up in front of the airport. "Well, here we are."
"Thanks for the ride," Olivia said as she grabbed her travel bag.
"Don't mention it," he replied.
"I'll call you when I get home," she said.
"Uh huh."
"And let me know when it'll be a good time to pack for Myrtle Beach," Olivia added.
"You have a swimming suit?" Voight asked.
His question caught Olivia off guard and she laughed awkwardly, "Uh, it's been a long time since I've had any use for one of those."
"Get one," he told her. "You'll be needing it."
Olivia laughed again and said uncertainly, "Okay."
"I'll miss you," he said with a smile.
She returned the smile, "I'll miss you too." Reaching over the gear shift that divided the seats, Olivia leaned over and hugged him. Turning sideways in his seat, Voight put his arm around Olivia and kissed her. After a few seconds, they pulled away, exchanged goodbyes, and Olivia got out of the car. Voight watched her go, then after a few seconds, he got out on his side of the car as well, and walked over to the sidewalk.
"You spying on me?" he asked the man reading a newspaper ten feet behind him.
"No sir," Antonio lowered the paper, "just making sure there weren't any complications."
Voight looked at him like he was deciding if Dawson was telling the truth or not, and he responded, "So help me, you breathe one word of what you saw..."
"I know, I know," Antonio raised his hand, "you're gonna cut my tongue out and ram it down my throat."
"Don't think I won't," Voight pointed a menacing finger at him.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Voight, have a nice day," Antonio turned to walk away.
"By the way, Antonio," Voight called after him, "If you see Halstead, tell him I apologize."
"Apology accepted, Sergeant," Jay came up from between two parked cars.
Voight looked at Halstead, who today was wearing a turtleneck to hide the telltale hand prints left on his throat, and shook his head. "Who else is here?"
"Just extending that protection detail," Halstead explained, "we saw Olive off yesterday."
"Did she know?" Voight asked.
"Hell yeah," Antonio answered, and pointed towards Jay, "we learn from our mistakes."
Voight chuckled. Then he pointed at Jay and told him, "And don't think that tongue thing doesn't apply to you too."
In response, Jay gave the age old zipped lip gesture.
"You alright, Hank?" Antonio asked.
Voight looked at him, and actually seemed to consider the question for a minute, before responding, "Yeah, I think so."
