Chapter 7: (Out of cool Titles…)
A/N: Mentions of seasons 11's sixth episode "spooked". Haven't seen it? Not really any spoilers, but go watch!
Olivia awoke the next morning, slightly later than usual, and turned on her coffee pot. It had been the best night's sleep she had had within the past week. After a quick shower and dressing for the day, her phone went off. "Hello."
"Liv, we got problems." Elliot's hushed voice said over the phone.
Olivia scowled as she poured her coffee into a to-go mug and grabbed her coat. "What is it?"
"A patrol man found Yvonne's celli." Elliot stated.
"Tell me she's still alive." Olivia pleaded as though it would make a difference.
"She is, but they found her in Jersey."
"So that gives us something to bargain with if she wasn't our murderer. Breaking parole is no minor offense." Olivia locked her apartment door.
"Well it would . . . except they have reason to suspect a multi state drug ring and we have some people here arguing that it's a federal case now."
Olivia slammed the door of her squad car.
"The fibbies are swarming the precinct." Elliot said.
Liv started her car and looked down at her watch. It wasn't even 9 am yet. "I'll be there in ten. Keep them out of my desk."
The two hung up and Olivia raced to the precinct. When she got there, she didn't bother waiting for the elevator. When she got to the top of the stairs, Elliot saw her and rushed toward her.
She was like a bat being led out of a cave. She had worked hard to be seen as an equal in this predominantly male field; so hard that her walk and her stance sometimes transformed into that macho swagger. She was standing like that now, poised to go in for the kill. This was her case, and she wasn't about to let the FBI take it. Especially not him; especially not Dean Porter.
Elliot blocked her pathway and so she came to an abrupt halt. "Keep your head Liv."
She looked at him incredulously as though he were one to just lie down and take it. "This is ridiculous Elliot. What are you doing?"
Elliot's stance hardened, his shoulders shifting up defensively. "You think I had something to do with this? You think I just handed over all the files because our case load was too heavy?"
Realizing her jump to conclusions, she backed off. "I'm sorry El, it's just, if this case has something to do with what happened at Sealview, I can't let it go."
"I know Liv," Elliot paused and lowered his voice, "I never got the chance to write up that report about our little visit to Harris yesterday. So, as far as everyone else is concerned, it never happened. Once these guys are out of our hair, we can do some follow up. Are you with me?"
Olivia looked past Elliot, Dean was closing in on her desk. She looked back at El, her angry demeanor diffused and said, "I'm with you." Then she walked past him and strode right up to Dean.
"I thought it was common courtesy to ask for something before digging around in someone's desk."
Dean became agitated. "Your captain gave me the go ahead . . . It's not personal."
Olivia gave him a sarcastic, "Of course not," before she opened her cabinet and rummaged for the files. She remembered his words the last time he was here, 'our feelings don't matter'. Of course not, how could it be personal now. She handed him all the files she had. "What are you doing here Dean?"
He shifted his weight, uncomfortable by her presence. "I don't pick the job Olivia; I just go where I'm told."
Olivia shook her head in a 'that's a good answer, but total bullshit' manner.
Dean looked around the room and motioned to one of the other FBI agents who came and took the files out of his hands. "Look, I know after our last case together, we left on bad terms. Maybe we can start fresh, on good conditions."
Olivia scoffed, is this guy serious? "Dean, you're taking a case out from under me . . . again! What makes you think a fresh start is remotely possible?"
Being the alpha male that he was, he didn't take kindly to the rejection. He closed the gap between them more, "You and Elliot better back off the case."
Olivia's eyes glowered, she stepped in even closer, "Or what? Are you gonna shoot me too?" She searched his eyes, looking for clues.
"Back off Benson." He said and then walked around her and out of the squad room along with the other agents.
Elliot stepped next to Liv as they watched them leave. "You had to bring up Rojas."
Olivia turned to face Elliot, "I wasn't talking about Rojas."
*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/
After another long, grueling day, and after hours of digging, and not being able to tie anything to Dean, Olivia threw her pen down and leaned over her desk, rubbing her eyebrow.
"Don't worry Liv, we'll find something on that creep." Elliot said, looking up at his agitated partner.
"I don't know El. He looks squeaky clean on paper. I can't find anything on him, not even the Rojas incident is listed."
"Well, nobody is that clean." Elliot said as he saw Alex enter the precinct. "Especially not that guy . . . I'm going to go over some stuff with Cragen, I'll be back."
Alex came over and leaned against Olivia's desk. Noticing Liv's tense demeanor, Alex asked, "Is everything alright?"
Olivia looked up to see Alex leaning by her desk. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't even noticed the blonde until she spoke. "Yeah 'Lex, everything's fine." She said and turned back to her computer file.
Alex looked down at Liv, "Everything is not fine. Tell me what's wrong."
"It's nothing Alex, leave it alone." Olivia retorted without glancing back at her.
Alex sat there for a moment, trying to judge the detectives reactions, but Olivia continued typing away. "Unbelievable," Alex said and then began to stomp off.
Olivia put the heal of her hand to her forehead. This was not turning out to be her day. "Wait," She called after Alex and caught up to her in the long hallway.
Alex spun around, her voice low, "If you're backing out on me here, let me know it. Because after last night . . . and that kiss," Alex could feel her heart sinking as she searched Olivia's eyes, "If you don't want a relationship, just tell me."
Olivia's voice remained even as she spoke, and she kept her eyes focused on Alex's, "I want you more than anything."
Alex's stance softened and she broke eye contact. It was what she wanted to hear, but she had prepared herself for the worst. Olivia hadn't called all day, and she had begun to get nervous. "Good." She said looking back up at Olivia, "But, you can't block me out like that. You already let me in Liv . . . Don't push me back away. If something is bothering you, it bothers me."
A quaint smile formed across Olivia's face, the first smile she'd had that day, but it quickly vanished. "Well it seems like all I'm doing today is apologizing." Liv stated.
Alex smiled at Liv and took a step closer to her. Pushing the hair out of her Olivia's eyes, she said, "That's not always a bad thing Liv." Alex winked at her and then headed back toward the office.
Olivia stood in the hallway for a moment before she called out to Alex, "Where are you going?"
Alex turned around and threw her shoulders up in a mock shrug, "I figured you wouldn't be able to go home unless you caught a break in the case."
Olivia caught up to Alex in the hallway.
"And," Alex continued, "If you can't go home, you can't make it up to me for trying to block me out."
Liv raised an eyebrow, "And what makes you think you can crack it after I've been working on it for hours."
"I may be blonde detective, but I didn't graduate the top of my class at law school because of my good looks." Alex shrugged once again, "Maybe you just need a fresh pair of eyes."
Olivia couldn't agree more. So, they made their way back to her desk and Olivia filled Alex in on the new details. Then they began going through the files they did have on Porter. "See, here and here, we have a few unsealed service files but most of what he does is under confidential seal, including all of his training."
"Can you go back further?" Alex asked.
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.
"High school. What teams did he play on, or what clubs did he join. Those shouldn't be confidential." Alex stated.
Olivia began clicking through files on her computer before she came to a picture of his high school football team. Olivia clicked on it to enlarge it.
"There," Alex pointed out. "Who does that look like to you?"
"What do you know . . ." Olivia looked over at Alex, "It's Harris."
A proud smile splayed across Alex's face.
Olivia stared into Alex's eyes, aware that Elliot was sitting across the desk and had overheard the conversation yet hadn't spoken up. He must have known something was going on between the two. He was a detective after all. And so, she didn't even hesitate as she spoke, "You were definitely right. I will have to make this up to you tonight."
If it were possible, Alex's smile grew wider. She leaned in and whispered, "I still have the key to your apartment. I'll meet you there." And with that, Alex got up from the desk and sauntered out of the room.
"Whew," Elliot stated as he walked around the desk to take a look at the picture Liv had uncovered. "Who would have thought after all these years . . ." He said as he planted his hands on her desk and leaned into the screen and then turned to look at Olivia.
He could have been talking about Dean and Harris, he could have been talking about her and Alex, or perhaps he was referring to both situations.
"Life isn't always what we expected." Olivia said, matching his supposition.
Elliot laughed and rubbed his head as he stood back upright. But his demeanor turned grim as he asked his next question. "What if Dean hired Harris to . . ."
Olivia stood up from her desk and placed her hand on his arm, "Don't El, not tonight. We'll go over things in the morning. Ok?"
Elliot let out his breath and accepted. "Ok," He said and walked back over to his side of the desk and threw on his coat. "Just remember . . . It's hot outside, wouldn't want any reason to have to wear a turtle neck."
Olivia threw back a playful slap as they walked out of the precinct, painfully aware that he was right.
A/N: So, think you know who it is now? It is SVU, so be careful jumping to conclusions! And hate to break it to ya, but it's still a little too early for the love scene. Not to say another good make out session isn't underway ^-^