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There's a bit of a jump here!
Chapter Seven
The last six weeks had flown by, Olivia and Dean had both settled into a comfortable routine at work and at home alternating between their apartments. Olivia was still convinced she was in the honeymoon period in both work and with Dean and she was convinced the happiness she felt wasn't meant to last.
"Hey baby." Dean smiled coming into her office.
"Hey." She grinned as he leant over the desk planting a soft and gentle kiss on her full lips.
"Ok so we have a lead on the case." He smiled.
That was one thing Olivia had loved about working with the feds, she was only working one case at a time unless the leads died out and as it happened with the case she'd been working from the start of her job as a Special Agent it hadn't lost any leads. They'd tracked down over three hundred girls who had been brought in from Central America to the US to work as slaves. Olivia and Dean had been working very well together, she and him seemed to click into place and worked a rhythm out well. They'd been managing the case with SVU and they seemed to work as one big team better than anyone had ever expected.
"So what's the lead?" Olivia asked coming out of her trance.
"There's a shipment of girls coming in." He replied.
"Ok where?" Olivia asked knowing they would have to leave the state to fulfil this one.
"Texas." He replied. "We, and that includes the Detectives at SVU, are going to Texas baby."
"Texas? Cool, shame it's for work, I've never been to Texas before." She smiled as she leant up to capture his lips in a soft kiss.
"Yeah I need ... to go ... over ... the details ... with you." He mumbled into her kiss.
"Ok." She sighed pulling out of the kiss and pulling open her desk drawer.
"Whatcha doing?" He asked eyeing up her open drawer.
"Case file, note book, pen." She explained pulling the items out before dragging herself out of the comfortable leather desk chair she enjoyed relaxing in.
They made their way over to the couch and Olivia's eyes dragged over the large canvass photograph that had been hanging there for nearly six weeks. It was of Olivia and Dean when they had the photographer taking photos of them in Central Park. It had been Dean's idea to have a large one up in his office and she'd decided if he was going to do it then so was she, the walls were now plastered with canvass' and frames from that photoshoot but this was the only one large enough not to be missed by anyone who entered the room.
It had been her favourite photograph of the lot. It was more natural, Olivia was sure that this was one the photographer had just managed to capture when they weren't paying attention. It wasn't as posed as most of the other photographs. She loved how Dean's forehead pressed into her temple, her neck bent into his and both of them smiling broadly and naturally. It was a close up too, framing their faces perfectly and managing to capture the love emulating from both of them.
Once sat down Olivia opened her case file and sat her notebook on her lap ready for Dean to explain to her how it was all going to go down.
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When they arrived at the one six they walked together towards the bullpen. The Detective's ears hitched and they all knew that the Agent's had arrived the clip clap of Olivia's heels and Dean's shoe's marching in perfect sync as always had them knowing that the Agent's had something for them.
Cragen had already spoken with Olivia on the phone so he knew what was going to happen and knew how it was all going to go down. He met the two at the screens and beckoned over the rest of the detectives so Olivia and Dean could fill them in.
"Right so we're all going to Texas." Dean said making the Detectives look around at each other nervously.
"We're going there to stop a shipment of girls." Olivia explained.
Fin and Munch shared a knowing look, Olivia and Dean were already continuing each other's conversations and they both knew it wouldn't be long before they were finishing off each other's sentences and reading each other's minds.
"We have had word from the undercover team in Texas that a shipment of girls is going to arrive a dock in Texas in four days time." Dean continued.
"We're going to be leaving tomorrow and flying to Lolita and then the cars will take us to Olivia."
"Excuse me?" Munch spluttered as the other three Detectives laughed and Olivia herself blushed scarlet.
"Very funny guys it's a place in Texas." Olivia hissed angrily, she wasn't in the mood for them to be childish about the place having the same name as her.
"Ok go on." Fin manages to mumble through his laughter.
"We're all going to be living together in a house in Olivia, the shipment will arrive and we will chase down the sellers from there, we'll get briefed by the agents in Texas when we arrive." Dean explained knowing that Olivia was angry by the way she'd crossed her arms across her chest and was standing, leaning into one hip with all her weight on one leg.
"We leave at oh six hundred hours from here, don't be late." Olivia finished before turning to Cragen and nodding her head towards the office meaning that she wanted a word with him.
He nodded back and lead the way, Dean close behind them as they had a lot of last minute plans to make before they all left.
"We leave at oh six hundred hours don't be late." Munch mimicked before he, Fin and Nick burst out with more laughter.
The only one who didn't find it amusing was Amanda, since Olivia had been working more and more over at her office at federal plaza the Special Agent seemed to have let the blonde haired Detective get a little closer, they'd met for coffee and even gone for lunch and shopping together as friends with a deal not to talk about sex crimes.
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The next day the team were sat on the plane waiting for takeoff. Olivia was anxious to say the least, she had an acute fear of flying. Dean remembered back to Oregon, when he had put her on the plane and she'd nearly had a panic attack. He could see her rolling her hands in her lap and he instantly picked up on her shallow breathing. Hr shot a quick glance towards Munch and Fin who were sat opposite them. They were arguing about a conspiracy behind the development of aircraft and flying. Nick who was sitting to the right of Fin had his nose buried in a newspaper and Amanda had her headphones on and was dancing her fingers along her legs to the song blearing in her ears. Deciding it was safe Dean slipped his hand over and took one of Olivia's trembling hands giving it a comforting squeeze, she looked at him and their eyes connected momentarily, her mouth curling into an anxiety filled grateful smile and her eyes thanked him a hundred times over. He smiled back reassuringly and she twisted herself in her seat so she could rest her head upon his shoulder. She may have been insistent about keeping their relationship out of work but it could have been John Munch offering her this reassurance and she'd have taken it.
Once in the air Olivia was able to relax a little, it was takeoff she was mostly scared of about flying
"Seriously Fin! The government and NASA ..."
"I'm the one who's serious, seriously telling you for the last time to shut the hell up old man!" Fin snapped, this conversation had been going on for far too long.
Amanda was humming away to her iPod and Nick looked seriously bored as he looked around the first class booth. Dean excused himself for the bathroom pulling Olivia from her thoughts, her eyes followed him intently as he left and even though it was just for the bathroom her anxiety level rose instantly and she wasn't very good at hiding it. Nick saw how her breath became sharp short inhales and he felt for her. He left his seat for Dean's to take over holding Olivia's hand.
"Ok?" He asked giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Yeah, you didn't have to you know." Olivia smiled even though she was very grateful.
"I know, but you looked like you were about to have a panic attack and I don't think Dean would have been to happy, he'd have blamed himself." Nick reasoned.
Olivia nodded, even though Nick hadn't been on the squad long he was as close to Olivia as Munch and Fin, and just as overprotective, she hadn't been able to understand why Nick was so protective over her, Munch and Fin had been with her for so long that she understood it but Nick wasn't as protective over Amanda, even though she was younger and more vulnerable that Olivia. Olivia was grateful to have Nick around with her though, and enjoyed his company.
"I always hated flying." She whispered as if it was a big secret.
"How come?" Nick asked understanding there was an explanation to that statement.
"When I first flew, I was in college and a group of us went to Cali for spring break, we drank so much the much before when we took off I kept being sick and then once we were in the air we were told we would be making an unscheduled stop and ended up circling an airport till we landed because of technical difficulties, when we landed it was a bumpy ride and the plane decided not to stay on the runway, it was lucky no one was hurt." Olivia explained shakily, she didn't even see Dean return and take Nick's seat to listen.
"So that one time bad experience has left you being scared of it happening again." Nick nodded understanding.
"Yeah, it's like, because it was my first time flying, I hadn't had a good experience on a plane to say that it doesn't happen all the time, you know, even though I flown hundreds of times since, I can never get it out of my head." Olivia sighed, she knew she was showing a weakness to the detective but she didn't mind.
"But nothing like that has happened since?" He asked.
"No, but it doesn't stop me being scared that it will." Olivia explained her breath shivering with her spine.
"I understand, I mean, I'm scared of clowns." Nick laughed gently.
"Really?" Olivia asked cocking her eyebrow to look at him.
"Well only clowns who go all out, not lame ones, I watched a movie about a clown when I was about nine, it was a scary movie, and I have never been able to be around clowns since." He explained his face flushing red with embarrassment.
"My fear's fire." Dean interjected making both Olivia and Nick look at him. "You know, burning to death."
"Really?" Olivia asked in shock, she hadn't ever thought of these men being scared of anything.
"Yeah, I see fire and I panic a little." He smiled and came over to her, kneeling down in front of her to talk. "See you don't have to be ashamed of being scared, we're all scared of something or other."
Olivia hadn't noticed that Munch, Fin and Amanda were now listening in on their conversation.
"I just feel weak when I'm scared." She whispered pressing her forehead into his even though her hand was still gripped tight in Nick's.
"I have another fear that probably beats my fear of fire." He continued.
"What would that be agent?" Olivia asked her eyes closed as her rolled his forehead backwards and forwards across hers.
"The fear I have of losing you."
She stopped and looked at him, their eyes meeting, no words needed to be spoken and as Olivia leant forward and dropped her lips onto his she didn't care that the detectives around her were feeling awkwardly uncomfortable.
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When they landed in Lolita they hastily grabbed their bags and made for the agent holding the sign with Olivia on it, neither were sure if it was the Agent's name or the place but they definitely knew it was for them, the dark aviator sunglasses and business suit was a mild giveaway.
"Agent Porter, Agent Benson, glad to see you've all arrived safe and sound." The agent smiled. "I'm Agent Angelo and I'm going to be your contact while we're out here."
"Detectives Munch, Tutuola, Amaro and Rollins." Olivia smiled gently as she introduced her co-workers.
The Agent gave the Detectives a curt nod but he wasn't interested in them, he was only interested in filling the Agent's in on the case because he'd worked his ass off for months on it and it was FBI the last thing he wanted to do was work with the NYPD.
"Right once we're en route to Olivia we'll fill you in." Angelo smiled his arm extending to show the way.
Olivia ignored the sniggering coming from Munch and Fin as they followed behind her long black coat whipping with the natural wind she created with her walk. Amanda, being quite the fashion observer loved how Olivia's dark coat and Dean's camel coloured coat both whipped in time as they walked in sync with each other three steps ahead of the lowly detectives, she didn't mind that, she thought it was great that Olivia had a promotion and was still working with their unit, she admired the older woman a lot, not that she'd ever admit that to Olivia.
Once they were all piled into the blacked out van Olivia and Dean were given a manila jacket while the detectives had to just sit and listen to the agents speak FBI, they realised how different it was having three agents talking to each other compared to three cops, the way they had code words and used a complete different format to the NYPD that none of them understood, Olivia herself could only grasp some bits of the conversation as her training courses were too boring and she spent most of them dreaming about her time with Dean.
"Ok so the shipment is expected to arrive in three days time, in that time we've got a team tracking the shipment as it comes in, we've reason to believe that the perps will not be with them when they arrive, not the sellers anyway, they will be the curriers and they're the ones we need you two to get while the Detectives deal with the girls." Agent Angelo explained as he ruffled his cropped blonde hair with one hand.
"Ok." Dean nodded his eyes not leaving the file in his hands.
"We're set up in the house beside the one you lot will be staying, there will be a lot of coming and going while we fill you up with all the details and stuff, it's going to be a good week before we can safely get you all back on a plane and back to New York." He continued blissfully unaware that no one was really listening to him anymore.
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Olivia's jaw snapped wide open when they climbed out of the van. The house they would be staying in was a modern complex and she realised that working for the FBI sure had its advantages. They all walked inside behind Agent Angelo and Olivia was surprised to see that the inside was as modern as the outside, kitted out with everything to make it look like a typical home and not a base where four detectives and two agents were going to be working for the next few days.
"Ok so here are your keys." He said handing out a bunch of keys to everyone. "One for the front door, one for the back door and one for your bedrooms."
"What you're saying there's five bedrooms in this place?" Amaro asked not realising how big the place was.
"Five? You mean six right? And anyway, it has eight bedrooms and one has been converted into a media room and another into a conference room." He explained.
Olivia and Dean shared a look when the amount of bedrooms was corrected by the agent, they'd not really thought about being together or apart over this week but Dean was damn sure he wasn't going to have Olivia sleeping in a different room to him, he'd been sharing a bed with her for seven weeks and that wasn't going to change now, not today, this week or ever in his opinion. Fin was also looking at them, him finding the whole thing quite funny especially considering he'd had the pleasure of going to Olivia's office at Federal Plaza and had seen the array of photographs including the large canvass on her wall, it wasn't a secret to anyone in the feds they were together.
"Ok so I'll leave you all to get settled in, Benson and Porter we expect to see you next door at eighteen hundred hours here are your keys for there." He handed the two agents another set of keys each before nodding his head and slipping off.
"Wow, so I guess we should go and put our things away." Olivia smiled glancing nervously at Dean before smiling confidently at everyone else.
"Yeah, you have a meeting at eighteen hundred hours." Munch sniggered, he couldn't get used to the fact Olivia was an Agent, she'd always be Detective in his eyes.
"Yes and then when we get back Munch you get the pleasure of listening to everything we have learnt so we can catch some of the sons of bitches that are kidnapping ten year olds and selling them as sex slaves ok?" Olivia hissed angrily, she'd had enough of his witty comments and snide remarks towards her new position.
"Come on Liv, let it go." Dean whispered picking up their suitcases and heading for the stairs while Olivia glared at Munch, her arms crossed tightly across her chest.
"Go on Liv." Fin smiled nudging her and she nodded and gave Munch on last warning look before disappearing after Dean.
Everyone else just looked around at each other unsure of what to say without making someone else uncomfortable. Amanda Rollins was the first to move, excusing herself for the bedrooms and Nick Amaro was quick to follow unsure of the tension thick in the air. Once he was sure they were out of earshot Fin turned on Munch.
"What's your problem?" He asked.
"I don't have a problem." Munch shrugged.
"Yes you do, ever since Olivia transferred to the feds you've been up her ass and quite frankly getting on all of our nerves." Fin spat angrily, Munch may have been his partner but Olivia was like a sister to him and he wasn't about to watch her as she hurt because Munch was an ass.
"I'm not up her ass at all Fin." Munch sighed picking up his suitcase and heading towards the stairs.
"Then lay off her old man, she'd been through shit since Stabler left the last thing she needs is you being horrible." Fin yelled after him before grabbing his own suitcase and hoping that what he had said would have hit somewhere deep with John Munch because Olivia was at the verge of cracking, Fin had seen it and he wasn't about to let that happen.
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After Olivia and Dean had filled everyone in on what the agents had told them about the case Olivia and Amanda decided they'd cook for everyone. It was nice for both of them, being the only women in the squad, to be able to spend time with each other being female and not acting like the men their co-workers expected them to act like.
"So how different is being a fed compared to being a cop?" Amanda asked as she chopped the onion and Olivia chopped peppers beside her.
"It's not that different, I mean, I only have to work one case at a time either until the leads run out or the case gets cold, I don't have to worry so much about paperwork as I have people who do that area for me and I have a better gun and my own office, not much to tell really." Olivia shrugged, the truth was being an Agent was cool and she loved it but she wasn't about to tell that to Amanda with the chance of it getting back to Munch who was a complete ass with her about it.
"How have you managed changing over though?" Amanda asked gently.
"I don't know, I went undercover years ago for the Feds, Dean was my contact in Oregon and I guess we have known we'd make a good team since then, even after ..." Olivia's voice trailed off for a moment as she glance towards the door making sure no one was listening in. "Even after everything that happened between us since then, we always knew it would somehow work out and then all the training courses and stuff I've done since then have just made it all the more fun." Olivia explained trying to finish on a lighter note than where the conversation was headed, but the truth was Amanda wanted to know more.
She was curious, she couldn't help it and as she studied Olivia's face she realised that she could broach the subject gently and if Olivia really didn't want to talk about it then she'd accept it and move on.
"What really happened between you and Dean? The Captain kinda filled us in but, it's not the same coming from a third party."
Olivia paused for a moment, contemplating whether or not now or ever to tell Amanda Rollins everything that had gone down between herself and Dean. As she flicked on the heat of the cooker and poured in some oil she realised that if there was going to be any hope of a friendship between her and Amanda the first step had to be trusting her and Amanda had already filled Olivia in on a lot of her past, she'd proved that she trusted the older woman and it seemed fitting to return the favour.
"Well pass us a glass of wine and I'll fill you in as I finish cooking." Olivia smiled as she added the mince into the now hot frying pan.
Amanda smiled to herself as she poured Olivia a generous amount of wine knowing that it would give her something to distract her as she revealed some intimate details of her past. Once she'd taken a hearty swig of the red liquid she set the glass down and turned her attention back to the pan.
"I went undercover to Oregon after infiltrating an eco-terrorist group, my name was Persephone James, and I was living with a bunch of advocates who weren't terrorists in the end but anyway, while I was undercover a man was killed, turned out the girl who'd killed him had been missing since she was ten years old, she was then seventeen. I found the crime scene while I was trying to clear my groups name and the sheriff figured out I was a cop. Dean agreed to let me work the case with him and we worked well together, I convinced him that I was good with victims, he didn't believe me at first ..." Olivia laughed gently. But once I was done, I convinced him otherwise." Olivia explained a smiled playing on her lips as she recalled the memory, the memory of her first encounter with the real Dean not Agent Porter.
"I'm not surprised, you do have a way with victims." Amanda agreed as she played with her own wine glass and leant into the kitchen counter to listen to more.
"Once back in New York it wasn't long before I came across Dean Porter again. I ran my DNA through the system to look for a familial match and found my brother Simon, he was accused of rape and went on the run and I kinda sent him some money and got my ass in a sling for it, Dean is the Agent who picked me up and questioned me about it. I promised Dean should Simon contact me again I'd let him know, I even led Dean to Simon, turns out Simon was innocent and I proved it. I knew it all along really, I just let a psychotic woman convince me otherwise for a short period of time." Olivia hated remembering that she'd been made to believe her brother was a rapist, she had hated herself for a while after that, it had been lucky Simon didn't blame her because she know had a considerable relationship with her brother.
"I didn't know you had a brother." Amanda shrugged, Olivia was that closed off from her co-workers the new Detectives knew nothing about her family history, only what Munch and Fin had revealed.
"You didn't?" Olivia sighed. "There's a picture of us on my desk."
"Figured he was a friend, but in saying that I did wonder if he was a cousin or something because you look alike." Amanda smiled gently pressing the wine glass to her lips as she spoke.
"Yeah we have some similarities." Olivia nodded, she didn't like admitting she looked anything like Simon because that meant admitting she looked like her father.
"Ok so what happened next with your relationship?" Amanda asked sensing the discomfort Olivia had.
"The next time I saw Dean was when Fin's nephew Darius Parker was on trial for murder. A cop who had a grudge against Cragen was giving the defence information about the squad, and they were trying to subpoena Dean to testify against my credibility, he went on the run to stop the subpoeana being served but ..." Olivia sighed remembering how close she had come to losing her job over the mess.
"But?" Amanda asked wanting to know the details.
"But I knew it had to come out eventually, so I turned myself into IAB." Olivia explained. "They'd have taken my shield if it wasn't for Cragen, I don't know what he did or what he said but I know Cragen got his ass in a sling over it."
"Wow, sounds like Cragen really wanted to keep you around." Amanda smiled.
"Yeah." Olivia nodded thinking about the man who had been the father figure in her life since her first day at SVU.
"Ok so what happened after that?" Amanda asked really enjoying getting to know such intimate details of Olivia's privet life, she'd never expected her to be so honest and open.
"That's when things went south between me and Dean." Olivia sighed heavily. "Elliot and I were working a case, it was supposed to be feds or Dean working the drugs and Elliot and me working the murders, we went after the drugs together in the end because that's where the murder investigation took us. Elliot and I were in the airport going after a suspect while Dean was to stop the drugs from leaving. Elliot got made as a cop quite quick and so it was left to me but then I got made..." Olivia's voice broke again as she remember the horrifying events that occurred after she'd been lead away.
"Ok?" Amanda asked realising how much of a sensitive topic they were on.
"Yeah ..." Olivia nodded. "After I was made he lead me off, shot a cop and then stood with a gun to my head, Elliot came after me, tried talking me down, the worse thing is it was my own gun he had pressed to my head ... never thought I'd find myself in that situation ..." Olivia laughed weakly at her own lame attempt at making that scene feel a little lighter that it actually was, she could never forget how terrified she'd been in that moment. "Dean heard the call for back up over the radio and he shot the perp from a distance, I'll never forget the look in his eye when ..." Olivia's mouth snapped shut, it wasn't who she was talking about, she wasn't supposed to mention him or not his eyes anyway ... those sapphire eyes ... she snapped herself out of it and shook her head to clear the fog that had descended on her mind.
"Livia?" Amanda asked passing a tissue over.
She hadn't even realised that she'd begun crying, and that was more shameful than anything.
"Sorry. Thanks." She whispered taking the tissue and turning away from Amanda.
"It's ok." Amanda smiled.
"Mm something smells good in here." Fin smiled and Olivia had never been so relieved to hear his voice.
"Well I hope you're hungry Fin because I've made more than enough!" She smiled as Amanda started scooping up the long spaghetti strings onto the plates beside the salad.
"We're all starving, I'd come to see what was taking so long." Fin smiled nicking a piece of pepper from the nearest plate and throwing it into his mouth.
"Well it's ready and as it's such a lovely day why don't we go outside to eat?" Olivia suggested having been interested in doing that since she'd seen the eight seater table in the secluded back yard.
"I'll go tell the boys to get their asses outside." Amanda smiled sensing that Fin had something he wanted to say to Olivia without her around.
Once Amanda's blond hair flicked around the corner and out of sight Fin looked at Olivia, the concern echoing from his eyes.
"Liv?" He whispered as Olivia placed the sauce on the plates.
"What?" She asked oblivious to his concern.
"You've been crying." He whispered hoping that no one was close enough to hear him.
"Have not." She replied.
"You were never good at lying to me Liv, and the red blotches under your eyes and the crumpled tissue in your hand says the opposite, why were you crying baby girl?" He asked resting his hand on her lower arm trying to coax her ... in the same way Elliot would.
She shook her head violently, now was not the time to be thinking about Elliot Stabler ... now? Never, she never wanted to think about him again, he'd hurt her, he'd hurt her after he'd promised that he could never hurt her and she wasn't about to crumble and fall apart because of him ... not in the way she had when she first found out he'd turned in his papers.
"I'm fine Fin, honest, I was just talking about some stuff with Amanda, got a bit teary that's all." She shrugged, it was the truth ... sort of.
"Ok just promise me, if anything ever upsets you that you'll come talk to me, I'm always going to be here for you." He whispered gently.
"He said that too." She whispered as another tear ran down her cheek.
Fin suddenly realised what she meant and his mouth hung open in shock.
"Olivia?" He asked after a few tense seconds passed.
"It's nothing Fin, forget I said anything please." She whispered almost pleading.
He stared at her as she wiped the stray tears away and attempted to hide any emotion from her face.
"You still think about him huh?" He asked, he was angry at Elliot for what he'd done to Olivia, she deserved more than that.
"No, just something me and Manda were talking about made me think of him." She shrugged. "I don't have room for him in my life anymore, he's not welcome in it Fin and I'd appreciate it if we could keep this between us and never mention it again." She replied snapping more than she'd planned too.
"Ok Liv, just promise you'll come talk to me if you're upset." He replied picking up a couple of plates to carry to the hungry people outside.
"Sure." She shrugged, not that she wanted to lie to him, but knowing he wouldn't drop it if she didn't she picked up a couple of plates and followed him outside wanting to forget all about her thoughts of Elliot Stabler.
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Next Chapter – Third day in Olivia and the case is about to take a turn as is something else!
