The light changed. Olivia ignored it – and the angry honks from the cars lined up behind her. After a minute, shouts joined the sound of car horns.
"Aren't you going to drive?" Chelsea divided her attention between a very calm looking Olivia and the silent mic in her hand.
"Sure." With a smirk, Olivia glanced through the windshield at the traffic light. The car stayed put, though, and the light changed from green to yellow. It stayed there for a few seconds. Then, as the light signaled red, Olivia jammed her foot on the gas pedal and the car shot through the intersection.
Now the blaring horns came from all around them as cars anticipating the green light from the other directions braked to avoid hitting them.
Turning around in the seat, Chelsea saw their followers trapped at the light with the rest of the cars. "You doubling back?" she asked.
Olivia reached under the seat between them and retrieved the bubble light. Tossing it onto the top of the car, she took a sharp right onto Woodruff. "I just hope we can catch them. I'm sure they know we spotted them now."
The radio crackled to life as the car flew down the street. "7214, that car was reported stolen this morning. RO is one Robert Johnson. Address 16 West 75th."
"10-4, Dispatch. 7214 out." Chelsea hooked the mic to the dash. "Well, that was useful. Of course the car's stolen." Hand flat against the roof of the car, she braced for another hard turn. "Why the hell would we have a tail? We're chasing a dead man!" Unless, she acknowledged with a shiver, the tail had nothing to do with their case.
"Don't ask questions we can't answer, Rookie. Save them for the guy driving the car." Cars tried to bail out of their way as Olivia turned onto Parkside and headed back toward Flatbush Avenue.
Unfortunately, even with the light and sirens, the tail car had had time to disappear.
Completing their next trip down Flatbush at a crawl, Olivia and Chelsea peered into every parking lot. "Damn it!" Chelsea snarled when they couldn't find the car. "We lost them."
"Yeah." Olivia was far less concerned by that fact. "I'm betting the 7-1 finds the car abandoned near the subway station."
Chelsea tried to be as philosophical. Staring at her hands fisted on her thighs, she struggled to relax. Deep breathing, closing her eyes…nothing helped. Too much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Her muscles ached and burned with continued tension.
Observant as always, Olivia picked up on that. "This isn't about our case, is it?" Her head turned and she pinned Chelsea with a glare. "I thought you said your fucked up personal life wasn't going to get me killed?"
"It's not," Chelsea answered tersely. Then she slammed a hand into the dash. "At least, I don't think it will."
Stilted silence filled the car, both of them working on regaining control and dealing with the situation.
Staring grimly out of the windshield, Chelsea offered a truce…of sorts. "Look, Liv. The reason I was at the House last night. Munch knows the whole story, and he's helping me with it. If it looks like that's the reason for the tail or for anything more than just a long lost relative popping out of nowhere, I'll bring you up to speed." It was the best she could do. Chelsea wasn't ready, despite their status as partners, to give Olivia that much insight into her past.
From the flush crawling up Olivia's face, it wasn't going to be good enough. "Look, Lake…" Olivia started to say.
"That's all you're getting." Jaw clenched, Chelsea regretted – again – transferring from the Brooklyn SVU. At least there she'd worked mostly alone. Cops were always too curious, and they saw too much. Partners…They were just a pain in the ass whenever you needed to keep something private.
Olivia was stonily silent for the rest of the drive.
Even though it didn't bode well for their relationship, Chelsea was glad of the respite. Eyes closed, she pretended to nap, mind racing over the events from the last day. She needed to talk to Munch. He'd been planning to call the social worker who'd handled her case. Maybe he'd found something. She needed to run another check on Anshu.
The internal to do list went on and on until the car stopped moving and the engine shut off.
"Ready for your first glimpse of the Widow McLaren?" Olivia asked quietly.
There wasn't any discernable anger in her voice, and Chelsea looked at her intently.
A wry smile indicated an olive branch as Olivia continued. "Make sure you're ready for anything. As soon as she sees me, I'm betting we hear more than a polite good morning. Gunfire wouldn't be out of the question."
"Now whose personal life is going to get us killed?" Feeling a little better about their partnership, Chelsea climbed out of the car and made sure her gun was easily accessible. "We have a plan or are we going to let her shoot us?" she asked as they made their way up the front walk.
Olivia shrugged. "The plan? Make sure to duck if you see a gun." With a cheery smile, she knocked on the front door.
***
Munch's hand was smooth and dry against Faith's weapons-callused palm. She noted the information automatically as she tried not to yank her hand away. Her muscles quivered from the strain of resisting her instincts for self preservation.
The moment passed without incident, though.
Their hands separated and Munch gave her a sardonic smile. "Nice grip." He wiggled his fingers for a second before winking at Nicole. "Don't forget to be careful out there, young lady. There won't always be a handsome and heroic detective sergeant around to protect you."
Even as Faith edged for the door, she had to smile at Munch's teasing.
"Yes, sir. I'll do that." Nicole's polite response sounded extra sincere when she drawled them. She flicked a quick glance between Faith and Munch. "Thanks for the snack, too. I think it might be a while before I see breakfast." There was enough wry self-mockery in her voice to imply a long talk with Willow was on her schedule.
Faith forced herself to nod in agreement with the unspoken comment and took another step toward freedom.
That's when Willow stepped in. She placed her hand firmly on the small of Faith's back again, rubbing soothingly. "Let's go, ladies. Nicole's right. We have a very busy morning ahead of us." She frowned in Nicole's direction. "And I'm sure Sergeant Munch has his own work to do."
Munch coughed and covered his mouth with one hand when Nicole slumped and trudged sullenly to the door. "Enjoy the rest of your stay in New York, Ms. Rosenberg." He turned away and wandered to a paper-strewn desk.
With Munch's eyes no longer on them, Faith relaxed enough to accede to the palm steering her to the doors. She followed Nicole on shaky legs and leaned into Willow's supportive hand. It felt good and seemed to bolster her flagging strength as they returned to the now busy hallway. Thanks to the increased foot traffic, Faith kept her voice low as she muttered, "Thanks, Red," before stepping away from Willow.
Silence reigned as the trio trotted down the stairs to the lobby. Unlike the first time, Faith was able to harness her nervous energy and avoid doing another Slayer Sprint. Even without the speed, though, she was panting and drenched in sweat by the time they exited the building into the weak winter sunlight.
As soon as they reached the car, Faith dug the keys out of her pocket. She needed to sit down. Soon. Her legs were vibrating and she wasn't sure how long they would continue to hold her up.
Nicole had other plans.
Before Faith could insert the key into the lock, she felt Nicole's hand seize her shoulders and spin her around. With a loud thud, she slammed back into the front quarter panel and the keys skittered across the hood onto the pavement.
"Are you crazy?" Nicole nearly shouted.
Several pedestrians gave them a wide berth and all of them watched the byplay avidly as they went by.
Moving in close and pinning Faith to the car, Nicole said with less volume – but no less intensity, "You went into a police station. A police station!"
As her adrenaline faded, Faith lost her sense of humor. She glared back at Nicole. "Really? I thought it was the fucking candy store." Shoving Nicole back a step, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Did you think I was gonna leave you there, Nic? I'm the Head Slayer on this trip. Now, there's a lot of people that think I ain't up to the job. Me, included. But even I know you don't leave one of your own behind."
A jangle distracted her.
Faith looked toward the sound and saw Willow scooping the keys off the ground. Seconds later, Willow slid behind the wheel and a dull click announced the rest of the locks releasing.
Not budging, Faith waited for Nicole to make her next move.
"You know what? You aren't crazy, Faith." Nicole sounded very certain and very serious. "I'm not sure what you are – but crazy isn't it." Looking suddenly exhausted, she opened the back door and climbed into the car.
