Thursday, August 11

Olivia awoke to the amber blush of sunrise wafting through the bedroom window. She flipped onto her back and turned her head towards the brighter, more concentrated glow that emanated from the lamp on Alex's bedside table. The attorney leaned against the headboard, her glasses perched on her nose, which was almost completely immersed in a book that rested on her lap. The blue eyes peeked over at the still slumber-eyed detective.

"What time is it?" Olivia ran a hand over her forehead, blinking.

Alex glanced at the clock beside her. "6:13."

Olivia rose on one elbow, and turned towards her, used to this new exchange of roles; in the past, it had been Olivia who awoke before sunrise, never having been a great sleeper. "How long have you been up?"

Alex shrugged, noncommittal. "An hour or so."

Olivia ran a hand through her hair, which felt mussed and messy on top of her head. "You really should consider taking a pill once in awhile. You've got to get more sleep, especially before the trial."

Alex shrugged again. "It's a good book."

"It's not that good of a book." Olivia reached a hand over and flipped the book cover up, pretending to judge its cover. "It can't be sunrise good."

Alex smiled briefly, her eyes once again glazing over the detective, who was haphazardly intertwined among the sheets. Her grin disappeared as she caught side of Olivia's hand on the book, the knuckles scraped raw. "Oh my God, look at your hand," she said, taking the detective's fingers gently into her own. "What the hell did you do?"

Olivia felt the urge to snatch her hand back and cover the bruising, but found she enjoyed Alex's touch too much. "I got angry at the impound lot yesterday," she slipped, almost bashfully.

"You got angry at the car, I hope, and not a human being."

"Yes. No. Yes, the car."

Alex sighed, moving her legs toward the edge of the bed. "Here, let me get something for it."

Olivia shook her head, this time grasping Alex's hand in her own, as a plea to halt her from getting out of bed. "It's fine," she assured her.

Alex pulled her arm away slightly. "Please, Olivia, I've practically got a whole nurse's station in my bathroom," she said, a hand casually running across the stitches on her chest. "Let me get you something." She padded carefully over to the bathroom, and Olivia could hear her sifting through the medicine cabinet. "Promise me that today you won't get angry at any inanimate objects in that apartment," Alex called.

Olivia didn't respond, stoicism seeping into her features as she thought of difficult day that lay ahead of her. She could already picture Cragen's response to the restraining order request: his head down, shiny underneath the fluorescent lights in his office, his hands in fists as he shoved them into his pockets. She hoped Liz had been able to prevent the ridiculous request from going any further, but was not looking forward to crossing paths with the Bureau Chief either. She was tightroping a dangerous line with the case, and she wanted nothing more than to bury her head in a pillow.

Alex popped back out of the bathroom, limping lightly back to the bed. "Did you hear me?" she asked. "Don't let nonliving objects get the best of you today?" She sat next to Olivia and pulled the detective's hand onto her lap as she uncapped a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

"Don't you have something simple, like Neosporin?" Olivia asked.

Alex's lip curled into a small, private smile. "You punched the hell out of a car yesterday, Olivia, and you're nervous about a little sting?"

The detective pursed her lips, and gave a quick nod as Alex rubbed the burning liquid over her raw knuckles. She spoke through the throb, instead concentrating on the softness of the blonde's touch. "I'll be lucky if Cragen even lets me tag along to the apartment today," she said.

Alex shook her head. "Both Elliot and Liz will back you up with him," she said confidently. "Cragen wouldn't have let you continue to work on this case after…" she blinked, quickly, and changed her wording, "he trusts you."

"Liz would just as soon see me off this case," Olivia replied, cringing as Alex took another swipe at her knuckles with the cotton ball.

"That's not true," the attorney protested, her concentration still glued to the hand in front of her. "Liz likes you."

"She said that?"

"Of course not," Alex scoffed. "I've never heard the woman say she likes anything. But if she didn't like you, you'd be under a bus by now."

Olivia nodded. "That I believe."

"She may like you, but she's dead set on making sure this case stands up in court." The attorney tossed the cotton ball on her bedside table next to the bottle of alcohol. "I have healed you, woman." She kept her fingers trailing over Olivia's hand, and gave the detective a smirk. "I will bet you dinner tonight that Liz shows up at that apartment today."

Olivia glanced over at her and rolled her eyes, grinning slightly as she dropped her head back on the pillow, bringing Alex down gently with her. "Ten more minutes," she pleaded, sighing contentedly as she felt the blonde head settle softly on her shoulder. She closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the sun, a rising reminder of a day to which she wasn't looking forward.

"Liz, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Tailing you," the attorney quipped, as she walked up the steps to Chandler's apartment building. Even from the distance of a few yards, Olivia could already see the blaze in the older woman's eyes. "You're lucky," she said, fixing the detective with a flat stare. "The only reason you're even here is because I promised Cragen I'd tag along to make sure you didn't do anything else to threaten this already severely compromised case."

Olivia rolled her eyes, despite the fact that she knew Liz was right – that morning Cragen had been close to assigning Olivia to desk duty for the next few weeks – it was a bullet she'd barely dodged, and only with the help of her partner and the Bureau Chief. She sighed as she looked up at the building, Elliot waltzing around her and heading towards the door. He looked back at her, already pulling on a pair of gloves. "You coming?"

Olivia nodded, following both Liz and Elliot as they made their way inside. She glanced over the familiar entryway, its floor bowing slightly in the middle from the years of foot traffic. Elliot and Liz were already making their way up the stairs, but Olivia caught sight of an elderly woman at the end of the short hallway, who was unsuccessfully attempting to push open a back door. Olivia stepped toward her, passing a small grouping of mailboxes, and crossing the length of the hallway quickly. She gingerly opened the door for her.

"You need some help, ma'am?" she asked, giving the woman a quick smile and looking down at the water canister, small shovel, and gloves that she held in a pair of wrinkled hands.

The woman assessed her behind a pair of bifocals, then brusquely handed over the water canister. Olivia followed her out into a small, overgrown back lot that seemed to serve as a courtyard of sorts. A small, sagging bench sat toward one side, with a makeshift walkway leading toward it. Several scraggly bushes were congregated on the edges of the yard, and a tiny, struggling flowerbed was edged in one corner.

The woman walked towards the garden, shuffling over the grass. "Ever since you people showed up at 2D's door, this garden hasn't been doing too well," she said, bending over the small scraggle of plants, which looked as if they hadn't been watered in days. "I do what I can, but I've never had a green thumb - that was my husband." She took the pair of gloves and pulled one of them on. "Still, I said I'd either try to save these flowers or pull them up myself." She looked over at Olivia. "I know you're police," she said. "Even though you don't much look like one. I saw you searching his apartment. Is he coming back?"

Olivia gave her a quick shrug as she set the water canister down on the ground. She didn't have time for pleasantries or questions; she needed to get upstairs. "I'm not sure," she replied, wiping her palms on her pants.

The old woman turned back toward the drooping flowers, her nose turned up. "I think today I'll pull them up."

Olivia looked down at her and the garden, her feet suddenly rooted to the spot. "These flowers were planted by the man in 2B?" she asked.

The woman nodded, gingerly getting down onto her knees. "Sure were. He was always out here, rummaging around in the dirt. Always first thing in the morning. I saw him once, because I wake up early, just by habit. Every morning I used to hear him, before the crack of dawn. Don't know what good gardening that early does, but it seemed to work for him."

Something clicked in the back of Olivia's brain and she eyed the ground, suspicion rousing in her gut. "You mind if I help you?" she asked, picking up the other glove from the grass and slipping it on. She got down on one knee and grabbed the small shovel, beginning to dig just next to the flowers in a wide, scraping arc. Soon enough, she heard the shovel scratch against something, a metal screech resounding from the earth. "Holy shit," she sighed, using her gloved hand to help the process along as she glimpsed something dark red, and hard. The elderly woman reeled back on her haunches as she watched Olivia excavate a small box, a metal lock on one side.

"Well, look at you," she said, surprised. Her face suddenly turned serious, and she gazed at Olivia over her bifocals. "If there's money in that box, we're splitting it."

Olivia glanced up at her, and shook her head, a smile forging itself on her lips. "We won't be doing that, ma'am." She gestured towards the glove the woman wore. "Do you mind if I borrow your other glove?" She smiled her thanks. "You've just helped secure evidence in an official police investigation," Olivia said, taking the glove that the woman offered and slipping it onto her hand as she positioned the box on the grass in front of her.

The woman nodded, but a confused look still graced her face. "Was there a monetary reward involved in this investigation?"

Olivia shook her head as she palmed her phone, dialing Elliot upstairs. She barely contained her smile as she heard him pick up. "I need you downstairs, in the back," she said. "And then we'll need to pick up that key from evidence."

She hung up the phone and pocketed it back in her belt, resisting the urge to wrap her arms around the woman in front of her, who simply shrugged, her excitement already fading, and continued to plow up the wilting flowers.

Olivia and Elliot stood slightly behind Melinda Werner, watching her as her eyes gazed across the computer screen in her lab. Liz stood slightly askance, her eyes grazing over the red box, which lay open on a lab table, its contents emptied and numbered alongside it. She crossed her arms over her chest and forced herself to listen to the medical examiners words.

"You found a goldmine," Melinda said, shaking her head in wonder. "The samples of hair inside match all three of your victims." She turned, giving the detectives a congratulatory nod before directing her attention towards the table. She pointed a gloved hand toward three miscellaneous items: a large, silver button, a tortoise-shell hair clip, and a small, gold bracelet. "I'd bet good money, that I don't make of course," she said wryly, "that these are all items that the victims were wearing when they were attacked."

"His mementos," Elliot said. Liz glanced over at him, and felt a shudder run through her.

Olivia looked down at the table, not recognizing the hair clip or the bracelet as Alex's, but she was almost certain that the button came from one of the attorney's suits. She looked over at Liz, who stood silently, watching, and attempted to gauge her mood; she had stayed quiet for most of the ME's briefing. "That should be easy enough to corroborate," Olivia replied. "We can ask Jamie's roommate if anything looks familiar, same with Jessica…" She looked over at Elliot quickly. "The button…" Elliot nodded, quickly intervening. "We can check it against what we've got in evidence," he said, giving Olivia a reassuring nod as he turned back to Melinda. He pointed toward the small coil of plastic wire. "And this matches the injuries?"

Melinda nodded. "Both the coil and the knife," she said, pointing to a medium-sized, double-edged blade that lay next to the wire. Olivia's eyes skimmed over the items, and she worked quickly to disconnect her mind from the objects, forcing herself to focus. "Not too many knives make the kind of marks found on the victims," Melinda continued. "It was an up and down motion from what I can tell from the rape kit photos. That calls for a double-edged knife. I'm happy to include that in my testimony."

She glanced up at the team in front her, raising an eyebrow as she attempted to keep her tone light. "My, but you all do work right up against the clock, huh? Trial's when?"

Liz finally spoke. "Monday." She took a breath, exhaling slowly and pulling her suit jacket tighter, her fingers absentmindedly fumbling with one of the buttons. "I need to get back to the office and file this for the court. Good work," she finished, looking at Olivia. She nodded at Melinda and Elliot before walking towards the door. Olivia saw the vacancy in her eyes, an emptiness that she rarely saw in the Bureau Chief. She looked over at the ME and quickly excused herself, following the attorney out of the room.

"Liz," she said, prompting the older woman to halt her hurried gait. "Something wrong?" She gestured towards the room behind her. "We've got enough to put him away for life."

Liz nodded slowly, but her eyes stayed flat.

Olivia studied her, the unreadable expression. "Right?"

"Oh yeah," Liz replied. "Consider this case open and shut as of this point forward."

Olivia nodded slowly, still not quite understanding the tone that underlay the woman's words. "You okay?" she asked, her brow raising in concern.

Liz gave her a studied look, as if weighing her words before she spoke. "That feeling you have, Detective, in the pit of your stomach? The one rises up like a fist punching into your throat?" She paused. "Nothing about this case feels like a win. We may get a conviction, but that feeling that you feel, it's just a reminder that at the end of the day, that means nothing."

"I hope you change your tune before talking to Alex and Jessica," Olivia said quietly.

A flash of anger whipped hard through Liz's features, and she steeled her jaw. "Don't fucking tell me how to be with my own fucking witnesses," she spat. "You helped close this case today, sure, because you finally did your goddamn job." She leaned closer, and Olivia saw something more than anger flutter through her eyes. "Just don't forget that your responsibility isn't solely to this job."

Olivia looked at her, her mouth dropping open in disbelief. "Are you telling me how to be with Alex?" she asked, her mouth hanging open. "I go home to her every single night, Liz…" she trailed off, afraid her voice would break if she continued.

Liz nodded, putting a hand up in front of her. "I know, I know," she said, her head down, as if she were coaching herself back from an emotional ledge that she rarely traversed. She looked up at Olivia. "I saw that evidence, and just like always, in my head I'm linking every piece to the witness' statement," she said thoughtfully, her eyes still down. "And I stood inside that room... and I was reminded again that I'm connecting those horrible things to Alex…" She trailed off, shaking her head, repeating the younger attorney's name. "I worry about her," she said quickly, brushing off her own feelings as she looked up towards the detective, "and by extension that means I worry about you."

Olivia looked aside for a moment, feeling her throat tighten, unsure how to respond to the rawness she saw in the attorney's eyes. "There's only so much I can do. I try to give Alex as much time, as much space as she needs, but I have to put my everything into this case for me. It's what I know how to do." She gazed back at Liz, and she saw the same raw honesty reflecting back at her.

Liz gave a small nod, and took a deep breath, placing assured hands on her hips. "Okay," she breathed. "This was good." She looked back up at Olivia, and the detective saw the familiar strength once again returning in the brown eyes. "I'm going to go do what I know how to do best," she said, her eyes serious. "I'm going to play some hardball. Time to up the charges on this sick bastard."

Olivia gave her a hardened smile, and watched as the attorney walked away. She picked her phone up and dialed, leaning against the wall and closing her eyes briefly as she waited for Alex to pick up.

"Hey. Tell me you didn't bloody up your other hand."

Olivia smiled into the phone, relief flooding her as she heard the comforting voice. "No, actually, but I did get them a little dirty." She glanced down at her fingernails, which were still somewhat covered in soil.

"You have good news?"

"Very good news," she replied, nodding into the phone. Liz's words echoed in her mind as she felt her stomach tighten, as if a fist were clenching inside it. The thought of describing the box left her with a repugnant feeling, and she worried that it would only cause the blonde to experience another flashback. She swallowed, and plastered a smile on her face again, as if to ward off her unpleasantness. "I'm on my way home," she said.

"Hungry?"

"Famished." It was as if the two of them had agreed, that Alex somehow sensed that whatever had been found, she didn't want to know about it, at least not yet.

"And did Liz show?"

"Of course she did."

"Then it's good you're hungry. You'll be taking me to dinner."

"Done. See you soon." Olivia hung up the phone, the smile on her face feeling just as feigned as the lightness in her tone. She shook the flagrant thoughts from her mind, and instead allowed herself to focus on their win, if only for a fleeting moment.

Still hopeful that the pace is fine, and that you'll allow me to digress once in awhile to explore Liz's feelings as well. Thanks for the reviews and the feedback!