Chapter Twenty-Five:

When Alex woke up, it was to the sound of her cell phone ringing inside of her purse. Blinking the blurriness from her eyes and wondering how she had fallen asleep despite the bright lights overhead, she hurried to answer it before the noise disturbed Olivia. When she saw Elliot's name flashing on the screen, she immediately brought the phone to her ear and stood up, trying to set her paperwork down as quietly as possible. "Cabot," she whispered as she headed towards the door.

"Alex, listen, I just got out of my interview..."

"Hold on," Alex told him as she stepped through the door, reluctant to make any noise around Olivia while the detective was sleeping. "What is it?"

"Are you with Olivia?" Elliot asked, his voice nearly frantic.

Alex's brow furrowed as she moved further away from the room, walking down the hallway. "What? I was until a few seconds ago. I stepped out into the hall to take your call –"

Elliot interrupted her before she could continue. "Go and find her. Right now! Stay with her until I can get there?"

Alex froze in the hallway, stopping and hugging the wall as a man in green scrubs stepped past her, not even looking in her direction. "What's wrong?" she asked, determined to get more of an explanation from Elliot.

"Just found out – the idiots from IAB and the DA's office didn't bother telling us. Olivia's shooter was released on bail late this afternoon. Ron Tracer. I was there for his arrest."

Alex's eyes flew open in surprise. "Which judge decided to set bail for him in the first place?" Alex muttered.

"No idea, but if Olivia ends up hurt..."

Ignoring Elliot, Alex turned back around and headed for Olivia's room at a quick pace. "How did Tracer manage to raise the money?"

"One guess. Someone with a lot of cash."

"Sullivan," Alex said immediately. "She bailed him out. But why? It could implicate her –"

"We think he's after Olivia again," Elliot interrupted her. "If she goes away, so do most of Sullivan's problems."

Alex didn't need to hear anymore. "Hurry up and get here," she said, hanging up and shoving the phone back into her purse. She covered the last few yards back to Olivia's bedroom at a run, her heart rate spiking when she saw that the door had been closed.

Fortunately, hospital doors didn't have locks on them. She forced it open, nearly screaming when she saw a shadow looming over the side of Olivia's bed. It was the same man she had passed before without thinking twice, wearing nondescript scrubs.

Frantically, Alex reached for the nearest thing she could get her hands on – her open briefcase. Heedless of the papers, she grabbed the handle just as the man began to turn around. He did a double take when he saw her and quickly changed targets, lunging towards Alex with his arms outstretched. Unable to do anything else, Alex swung the briefcase as hard as she could, aiming for the man's head.

He grunted in pain and alarm as it crashed against his skull, automatically bringing his arms up to protect himself instead of reaching for Alex. She pulled back the briefcase, ignoring the papers fluttering around her ankles, and drew it back for another strike. This one collided with his face, but it didn't stop him from reaching for her again, grabbing her by the hair and pulling ruthlessly. Alex kicked out with her heel, trying to catch his shin, but she missed and nearly toppled forward onto him, her glasses hanging off one side of her face as she began to scream.

Then, finally, she felt the grip on her hair release. Although her vision was blurry with her glasses askew, Alex was able to make out Olivia's form as she leapt out of bed, instinctively rushing to protect her despite her injuries.

"Alex, get out of here!" she yelled, forcing one of their attacker's arms behind his back, pulling his shoulder painfully. He continued struggling, and Olivia was forced to grab his other shoulder, twisting his body into a submission hold as she tried to force him down onto the ground.

He was stronger than she was, and desperate, but Olivia's hold was secure, and he found that he couldn't get away without wrenching his shoulder out of its socket. "Bitch," he spat into the floor as one of Olivia's knees dug into his back.

Olivia ignored the insult, focusing on pinning her assailant as securely as she could. Alex had backed away several steps, and she rushed to push the emergency button on the side of the wall. Soon, lights began flashing, and a loud buzz filled their ears. All of them scrunched their faces in discomfort, and the man tried to make one last bid for freedom until Olivia grabbed his hair and smashed is face into the ground to keep him compliant.

A few moments later, several nurses and a resident rushed into the room, wearing identical expressions of shock. "What's going on here?" one of them asked, staring in alarm as he watched Olivia tighten her grip on her struggling captive.

"This man just tried to kill us," Alex told them, her briefcase still gripped tightly in her hand.

. . .

"Detective Benson."

"Florentine. Romano."

The two IAB investigators studied Olivia. Romano's small, beady eyes were fixed directly on her, while Florentine was slightly more distracted. His hands twitched idly beside him, and Olivia suspected that he was desperate for a cigarette. She tried not to let her distaste show on her face.

"You've been a busy woman tonight, I see," he said, gesturing at her bruised face.

"That's an understatement, Gentlemen," Alex said from her position against the wall. Since they had not taken any of the available chairs beside Olivia's new bed, she hadn't either, wanting to remain at a similar height. "Despite being injured, she saved my life."

"More like she saved mine," Olivia argued. "Tracer definitely had the advantage. He probably would have killed me if Alex hadn't hit him." A small smile curved along her lips. She was proud of her lover's resourcefulness, as well as her aim.

Florentine glanced between Alex and Olivia, a look of realization slowly creeping across his face. "After Homicide booked Gary Matthews, your friends McCoy and Briscoe found some interesting things in his apartment."

"Phone records, including some very interesting text messages," Romano continued. "Homicide probably would have found them eventually, but your little stunt uncovered them early." He sighed. "No matter how many of them we catch, criminals never seem to get any smarter."

"What about Aiken?" Olivia asked, sitting up a little straighter in her bed.

"Him?" Florentine shrugged. "He flipped as soon as we showed him some of the evidence. Apparently, he was next on her list. She never forgave him for talking to the DA's office in the first place."

"So, the original accusation against Sullivan wasn't part of the plan?" Alex asked.

Romano shook his head. "Nope. He was legitimately trying to weasel himself out of jail time. When that didn't pan out, Sullivan contacted him again. The police were already investigating her, so she needed a scapegoat. If Olivia was accused of taking a cut..."

"All of her evidence against Sullivan would be fruit of the poisonous tree," Alex finished. "It might not even be admitted in court, and if it was, everything she found would still be suspect."

Olivia summed it up best. "Well, fuck."

Romano and Florentine actually seemed amused by her outburst. "At least you're off the hook now," Florentine said. "Can't say that's a bad thing for us. We don't get to see a lot of cops walk away clean."

"Not completely clean," Romano interjected. "There's still the fact that you and Stabler went after Matthews without permission."

"We were just going to talk to the Super –" Olivia began.

Florentine snorted. "That's exactly what your partner said. You're lucky, Benson. That one's loyal to the bone."

Olivia smiled slightly, even though it hurt. "Yeah. I know."

"So, what kind of punishment should Olivia expect for going after Matthews?" Alex asked, giving them one of her infamous stares through the lenses of her glasses.

"We talked it over with her Captain," Romano said. "Three weeks leave without pay. Then, she can go back to work at the 1-6. No reprimand in her jacket."

Olivia breathed an audible sigh of relief, giving Alex an even bigger smile.

"I only have one more question before we close the case and write up our reports," Florentine said, staring between Alex and Olivia. "Why were you so secretive about the fact that you stayed with Benson after she got shot, Cabot?"

Alex was silent for a long moment. Olivia shot her a nervous, apprehensive look, but her expression remained calm. "While we were away, we began a romantic relationship. That's one reason I took a leave of absence as soon as I returned. I still need to talk to my boss about transferring to a different department. Obviously, I can't continue working with SVU."

Olivia's jaw dropped. "Alex, you don't have to –"

Alex pushed off the wall, putting a comforting hand on Olivia's shoulder. "I know." She turned to Romano and Florentine. "I would appreciate it if the two of you left that part out of your report, at least until I can make an appointment with the DA. I assure you that I won't be involved with any of Olivia's cases until then."

Romano sighed, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet. Thumbing through the different compartments, he eventually pulled out a somewhat crumpled twenty-dollar bill and shoved it into his partner's hand. "Fine. You win."

Florentine grinned as he tucked the bill into his own pocket, patting it securely. "Thanks."

"You bet on us?" Olivia asked, not sure whether to be angry or amused. Her heart felt surprisingly light, hammering to get out of her chest. Apparently, she had done a good job of erasing Alex's doubts.

"No offense, but it was kind of obvious," Florentine said. He tucked his hands in his coat and gave both women a polite nod. Then, he and Romano turned to head out the door, deliberately closing it behind them to give Alex and Olivia some privacy.

"You really didn't have to do that," Olivia said, finishing her earlier thought. "I already know you aren't going to run away from me again."

"I know." Alex sat down on the edge of Olivia's hospital bed, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "I wanted to."

Olivia smiled, reaching up with one hand to stroke Alex's hair. She was wearing it down for once, and she enjoyed the soft strands running between her fingers. "So... three weeks, huh? What am I going to do with myself for three entire weeks?"

Alex ran her hand down the side of Olivia's bare arm. "I can think of a few things," she murmured, her lips hovering a few inches away. "I'm going to make sure you're so busy that you don't even have time to call the 1-6 while you're gone."

"Is that a challenge?" Olivia asked, her eyes half-lidded as she pulled Alex's face closer.

They kissed for a brief, hot second.

"No. It's a promise."