Chapter 10
"It may be an old cliche, but I think true love will last; it has no end. But finding the right person is a very difficult thing." - Bruce Forsyth.
"A pissed off attorney and probably two grown men almost crying for their mothers." Alex smirks.
"Alexandra don't be so modest dear. When they are alone they will cry for their mothers. You totally kicked their asses." Liz chips in.
"So I can assume that they accept a deal?" Olivia asks.
"Yes they did. At first they hesitated but when they heard what Liz was going for on trial they immediately agreed. So no court tomorrow. We have to go Petrovsky's chambers to seal the deal in half an hour. We've got lucky she had time for us so soon." Alex answers.
"Are you gonna tell me what you got now or what?" Olivia asks.
"Yes I am. But you better sit down before I tell you it." Alex answers.
Olivia raises one eyebrow questioningly but takes a seat in on of the two chairs at this side of Liz's desk. Liz sits down in her own chair behind her desk and Alex takes a seat in the chair next to Olivia. Turning to look at the brunette.
"Gena and Carry are both suspended without payment for 6 months. Vain is getting suspended without payment for 1 year. Plus he loses his function as head of the team and can't get it back for the next 5 years. He also has a probation for the next two years. If he screws up, even a bit, he'll lose his license.
You have the best health insurance for the rest of your life. Plus every surgery you might ever need will be paid for by the hospital if it's not covered by your health insurance.
I know that when you are retiring, in the future, you want to start a foundation. The money to start a foundation with will be paid also by the hospital. That means everything you need to get a good start and make it running well.
And finally you don't have to worry about paying your bills anymore. You get 2000 dollars every month for the next two years, starting the first of the next month and a claim of 1,2 million dollars." Alex says.
Olivia's jaw hits the floor and it's silent in Liz's office for about 30 seconds. Olivia is clearly overwhelmed with the second part of the deal Alex got for her. After 30 seconds Olivia shakes her head in an attempt to get it clear before she looks at Liz and then back at Alex.
"I don't know what to say besides thank you, Lex. Thank you so much. I owe you big time." Olivia says.
"No you don't. You had my back and saved me or my life more times than I can count on two hands, Liv. If anything I owed you. I just made sure that you are getting what you deserve and helped you to be able to do what you want. Anyway, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. It was nice to be toying with them and make them squirm." Alex smiles.
"I hate to break in but we need to go to Petrovsky's chambers now if we want to be there in time." Liz says, getting up.
Alex and Olivia get up and the three women go to the courthouse. Half an hour after they went into Petrovsky's chambers everyone is out again. Petrovsky, of course, allowed the deal and she made sure that every part of it is taken care of. Everybody is relieved for different reasons. Olivia, Alex and Liz are happy with the deal they could make and are relieved that Olivia didn't have to go to trial and testify. Petersen, Collins and Vain are relieved that they could make this deal instead of getting their asses kicked in court and lose more than they are losing now. On their way back to her office Liz calls Cragen and tells him that they will be ready in half an hour. She asks him if he is able to make it to her office by then. Cragen tells her that he'll be there in half an hour. When the three women walk by Alex's and Olivia's favorite coffee shop the Detective stops them and tells the two women that she goes inside to buy them all a cup of coffee and some donuts and cupcakes to celebrate the deal.
"What do you want Liz?" Olivia asks.
"Latte Macchiato, extra sugar, please." Liz answers.
"Alright, Latte Macchiato is coming up. Excuse me ladies, I'll be right back." Olivia says.
When Olivia walks inside the coffee shop Liz raises an eyebrow at Alex.
"How many times have you two been here together that Olivia doesn't need to ask what you want, Alexandra?" Liz asks.
"I lost count after the first two years of working with SVU as their ADA to be honest. Although there are a few choices I like to drink from here, somehow Liv always knows what I want without asking, every single time." Alex answers while getting as red as a tomato.
Liz only smiles knowingly at Alex before she turns her head and looks inside the coffee shop. Not surprised to see Olivia standing inside in a way that she can see both the counter inside and Alex outside. She realizes that the Detective probably doesn't even notice what she's doing. Liz turns back to look at Alex.
"Is she always so protective of you?" Liz asks pointing at Olivia with her head.
Alex looks inside and smiles as she sees how Olivia is standing. The younger blonde turns her head back and looks at Liz a bit uncomfortable.
"This nothing. She doesn't even know that she's doing it. You should her when we are in an interrogation room. I never have to worry to get attacked or someone trying to attempt it when she is in there with me. I wasn't lying Liz when I said that she saved me or my life more times than I can count on two hands. That's all I want to say about this or Liv." Alex says firmly.
"Alright, no more talking about Detective Benson for now." Liz says, pulling her hand up in surrender.
They left it with that and wait for Olivia to come outside. When Olivia gets outside the three women start walking again and Olivia gives Liz a glare but she doesn't say anything. Not that she need to, Liz knows what the glare means and inside she is happy that Alex has found someone that cares for her as much as Olivia does. Hoping that they would get their head out of their asses, not knowing that the two already did that. 5 minutes after they got back at Liz's office Cragen arrives and Olivia hands him his cup of coffee and let him choose between the donuts and cupcakes although she knows what he wants. Cragen says that he assumes that Olivia got a deal since they were drinking good coffee and eating donuts. Olivia tells him with proud in her voice about the deal Alex got for her. The four of them talked about how Alex wiped the floor with Petersen and the two other men for a couple of minutes before Liz told them to get back to business.
"Although with the deal Cabot got you don't have to work again if you invest your money properly but somehow I don't think that's what you want to do. So we still need to talk about the time the two of you are taking off. Am I right?" Liz asks.
"Yes you are. I'm a cop and while I have a lot to think about, need to make difficult choices and have to recover from my surgery physically and mentally, being a cop isn't one of them." Olivia answers.
"Alright. Now there are two things we can do in my opinion. Feel free to say it if I am wrong, Don." Liz says.
Cragen nods at Liz and the older blonde continues.
"The first option is make 1 PP and the DA happy and use the many, many sick days and vacation days the two of you have left. I don't know about Detective Benson but Alexandra has about 2 years give or take a few weeks. The second option is to take an leave of absence." Liz says.
Olivia blushes when she hears how many days Alex has left. She doesn't know exactly how many days she has left but she's sure that it's more than the blonde ADA has.
"Uhm Cap. how many days do I have left? I don't know exactly how many but I know it's more than Alex." Olivia asks sheepishly.
"That's an understatement Benson. At the last count you had close to 5 years left." Cragen answers shaking his head.
Although Alex is a bit surprised but she isn't as surprised as Liz is. The EDEA is almost shocked.
"When was the last time you took a sick day or a day off Detective?" Liz asks.
"Took or ordered? Took, I can't remember. Ordered, 3 days ago when I got hit by a car at the first day of the two I needed to take. And the first and the last time I actually did as I was being told. I can tell you that." Olivia answers.
"Besides the way how we are going to take said days, what are you going to do now that I'm going away, Liz?" Alex asks.
"Well, I saw this coming three days ago and I made a few phone calls to get your time covered. The last thing I wanted was to get a replacement that knows shit about prosecuting cases for SVU. If I learned something in the years behind us it is that not every one can handle it and that for a unit as SVU it's necessary to have someone who can handle it and is strictly assigned to SVU. Don't worry, you'll still be SVU's ADA when you come back. You just share your docket with someone else and you're the first chair when you come back. Now I won't keep you all waiting the new ADA, or coming back ADA I should say, is Abby Carmichael. She wanted to come back to NY and she was more than pleased to be able to work with you two when you come back. The case load is big enough for the both of you." Liz answers.
Although Cragen, Alex and Olivia are surprised to hear that the Texan is coming back, the three of them are happy and pleased that it's Abby who will be prosecuting for SVU when Alex is away. After they all told Liz how happy they are turns Alex to Olivia.
"Liv, I have an idea. How about we take 3 weeks for certain and after that we call in every week if we want to add another one or not? If that's alright with Liz and Cragen of course." Alex asks.
Olivia looks at Cragen who just nods at the brunette Detective.
"If Liz is alright with it I think it's a good idea. But I have to take 6 weeks for certain, I refuse to go on desk duty and Doc said that I may not use my arm for 6 weeks and I need to recover from the surgery too. I don't say you need to take that many too, it's just information." Olivia answers.
"Detective, you and Alexandra can take 6 weeks and still go with the idea. You both have more days than you know what to do with if you are both working normally. I say take 6 weeks and we'll talk after that if we're going to call every week after that or the two of you are coming back. Don?" Liz says.
"I agree with Liz. As long as we don't get any trouble from above that the two of us can't handle I would say take as long as you want and can without getting crazy and fight like cats and dogs." Cragen answers smiling.
"6 weeks is fine with me. Liv?" Alex asks.
When Alex looks aside at Olivia she sees a certain look in the Detective's eyes. She's pretty sure the others don't see it but Alex does and she knows that Olivia is about to take a run.
"Alright. 6 weeks it is. Now I go to the restroom and after that we should leave, Alex. Before they change their minds. They are way too easy if you ask me. Alex, can you help me up, please? I really need to go to the restroom." Olivia asks.
Alex stands up and helps Olive out of the chair.
"Thank you for what you have done for me Liz. You know how to reach us. Thank you Cap. for giving me the time I need. See you at the restroom, Lex." Olivia says.
Olivia turns around and walks out of Liz's office as fast as she can. Leaving Liz and Cragen confused behind.
"How stupid do you think she is? She's a Detective for heaven's sake. Did you really think she wouldn't figure out what the two of you are doing? She's gonna run and you better hope that I'm able to chase and catch her because we all know she has a better stamina." Alex chastise.
"Alexandra what are you talking about?" Liz asks confused.
"Don't! Don't try to insult me. I'm not that stupid neither. She knows that you two are trying to get the two of us together. And with doing that you freaked her out and made her run. Are there any restrictions for us being involved, should that happen? Don't answer that now. Mail me what they are or how we need to handle things. I need to go and try to stop Liv." Alex growls.
Alex quickly stands up and walks to the door when Liz calls out.
"I'm sorry Alex, we didn't want this to happen." Liz says.
Alex turns her head back with the door handle in her hand.
"Sorry is not good enough if I won't be able to get her back!" Alex sneers.
Alex turns her head back and walks out of Liz's office slamming the door hard behind her.