A/N: A sequel to "Missing." They have a history of dating, but have recently re-connected.
A note: Based on "Ghost," when Alex's NYPD photo ID came up on the screen in her "unsolved homicide," she was born May 31, 1968. I know often her and Olivia are written with a few years difference between them (because of the actresses ages), but that's where I'm basing ages on. Liv's birthdate has never been revealed, but M has mentioned she believed to have been born around 1968, so I'm going with early 1968.
CHAPTER 1
Knock. Knock.
"Ms. Cabot?"
Alex was nervously clicking her pen on her desk, head buried in her work and entirely unaware of her assistant that had been standing at her door for at least a minute.
"Oh, Mark, yes," Alex said. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."
The young assistant smiled and bashfully put his hands in his pockets. He was relatively new on the job, and Alex still hadn't gotten him comfortable with just using her first name, despite telling him several times it was OK.
"You...um, you said to remind you about the Reynolds' report this afternoon," Mark said. "Did you still want me to take that to the District Attorney?"
"Oh, yes, I completely forgot. Thank you," Alex said, reaching around at the scattered papers on her desk. "I got completely lost in the time." She found the file and handed it to the young man as he approached her desk.
"You also told me to remind you to leave by 5 p.m. today," he said. "I know it's only 4:30, but just giving you a heads up."
Alex looked at her right wrist and saw he was right. She couldn't believe where the time had gone.
"If you don't mind me saying...unless there is something you need to do, I can take care of getting this to the DA and the other report sent off," he said. "You know, if you wanted to leave early... I mean, I don't know your schedule, I just...I know you've worked a lot this week."
Alex smiled. She knew what he was doing. She had been a ball of nerves all week and had worked long nights. Of course, he didn't know why, but she appreciated he was starting to pick up on some of her subtle clues that she wasn't even aware she was giving off.
"You know, Mark, that's probably a good idea," she said. "Thank you for reminding me. I would have probably sat here another hour or so."
"You're welcome," he said, looking down. "I'll just get this report over to the DA."
He quickly left, shutting the door behind him.
Alex looked at her watch again. She may as well leave now, she thought. She surely hadn't gotten any work done in the last hour anyway, as she was still reading the same page of the brief she was one 15 minutes ago.
She closed up her files, put them away and grabbed her jacket and bag, heading out of the office and praying traffic wasn't terrible on this Friday night. She wanted as much time as she could get to prepare for her date with Olivia - their first date, at least this time around.
The pair decided they would go to Tavern on the Green for dinner - something nice, but not super fancy. Alex hoped afterward they could take a stroll in Central Park.
The attorney got dressed, trying not to overdo it, as much as she wanted things to be perfect this time with Olivia. But she still wanted to blow Olivia away and didn't want to leave anything to chance this time around.
Olivia promised to pick her up at 7 p.m. for their dinner reservation. It had been a couple of weeks since their talk; it took that long for them to make sure to find an uninterrupted night. Of course, with their schedules, 'uninterrupted' was always contingent on the criminals of Manhattan.
At promptly 7 p.m., as Alex was changing earrings for the third time, she heard a knock on the door. She rushed to the door, earring still in hand as she struggled to get the clasp on. When she reached for the door handle, she gave up and put the earring in her other hand.
"Hi," Alex said, smiling as she opened the door. She immediately wanted to kick herself for her greet. Hi? That's all you could manage to get out? Alex thought to herself.
Olivia's smile melted Alex's heart just like the first time they had a date all those years ago.
"Hi," Olivia said, then handed Alex a bouquet of wildflowers and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You look...wow, Alex."
Alex blushed. "Thank you, Liv. And I don't know if you've looked in a mirror, but you look beautiful, too, as usual," she said then turned around and looked for a vase to put the flowers into.
Olivia smiled and stepped into Alex's apartment, closing the door behind her.
"I'll be ready as soon as I get this earring in," Alex said, getting back to what she was doing before Olivia arrived.
"Can I help?" Olivia said, smirking as she watched Alex struggle and taking a step toward the blonde.
"Sure," Alex said. "I don't' know what it is about this pair but..."
"I remember," Olivia said, recognizing the earrings from when they dated before. "The clasp on these are oddly shaped." Olivia walked over and took the clasp from Alex's hand, who held the earring in her ear until she felt Olivia's hands there.
When Olivia's hands made contact with Alex's ear, and she felt how close the brunette was, she felt an old familiar tingle go through her body - a feeling she wasn't expecting just yet.
"There you go," Olivia said as she finished and stepped back. Alex noticed her date was also flushed a little from the encounter.
"My hero," Alex said, giving Olivia a wink. "Let me just grab my purse and we can go."
#
After a wonderful dinner and wine, the two exited the restaurant.
"Should I get us a cab or call a Lyft?" Olivia asked.
"Actually, unless you need to get home to Noah, I thought we could go for a walk in the park," Alex suggested. "I know it's kind of late, but I figure you can protect us, right?"
"That's a great idea," Olivia said and extended her elbow. Alex took Liv's arm as they began walking.
After a few minutes of walking in silence and enjoying the warm spring night, they stopped to watch a young couple in the middle of a proposal.
"To be young and in love," Alex said.
"Can you imagine love being that easy?" Olivia laughed.
"Oh, I'm sure they have no idea about the rough road ahead of them," Alex said. "But isn't it nice that they don't seem to care?"
"Yes, youthful innocence is sometimes a good thing," Olivia said. "I wish I had more of that sometimes. I see it in Noah so often and I have to catch myself to not spoil his moment with the hard realities of life."
They decided moved on from watching the young couple, wanting to give them some privacy, and took a seat on a park bench.
"I guess seeing those realities is something that goes along with our line of work," Alex said. "I mean, even as a young college student studying law, I felt like I read about or heard about things that were beyond what most people my age cared about. Of course, I guess having a family full of attorneys didn't help either."
"Yeah, being a rookie cop was an eye-opener for me, but even still, dealing with my mom, I was much better prepared than a lot of my classmates in academy," Olivia said. "But whatever little innocence I had left was gone after my first year on the job."
"Do you ever wish we would have had that?" Alex said abruptly after a few moments of silence.
"Had what?" Olivia said.
"A little more of that youthful innocence," Alex said. "Less baggage. Just being able to go into life and relationships with little more than hope."
"Well, I guess I've never thought about it," Olivia said. "My life...and I guess yours for that matter...has been anything but easy," she paused to think about her answer, "I guess I would like to have had some of that. If I could do a few things over, take a few more chances, without the worry and knowledge that comes with all of this...I don't know, life would maybe be a little different."
Alex nodded. "I agree. I mean, I can't complain about the way life turned out, but...I wish I had taken more chances in life."
"We still can," Olivia said. "I mean, we're just 50, so it's not like we're on death's door or anything."
"50? I'm still 49 for another...few days," Alex said. "Don't try to lump me in with you." Alex smiled and nudged Olivia. Olivia was a few months older than her, but it was something Alex always reminded her of, being just a few months older.
"That's right!" Olivia said. "Alex, 50 is a big one. What are you doing to celebrate?"
"Oh, no, no, no," Alex said. "I planned to stay home and pretend it wasn't happening."
"Not a chance," Olivia said. "Alex, we have to celebrate."
"I don't know," Alex said. "I'm not really much on birthdays."
"I know, but this isn't just any birthday," Olivia said. "Look, at least let me and Noah celebrate with you."
"Wooing me with your kid?" Alex teased. "You use that one a lot?"
Olivia laughed. "No, but I really would like to plan something for you."
"Will there be ice cream?" Alex said, raising her eyebrows.
"Anything you want," Olivia said.
"Ok, fine," Alex said. "But just you and Noah. I don't need everyone to know I'm 50."
"Noah isn't the best secret keeper, but I won't tell a soul," Olivia joked. She looked at her watch, realizing it was getting late. "I guess we should get going."
After a short cab ride back to Alex's apartment, Olivia insisted on walking Alex up to her door in the building.
"I had a nice time, Alex," Olivia said. "And I'm looking forward to your birthday party, but aside from that, I'd like for us to do this...again."
"You mean, a date?" Alex said.
Olivia blushed. "Yes, a date."
"I'd like that, too," Alex said.
Both women kind of shuffled a moment, nervous about what was next. It's not like kissing was anything new for them. They had even shared a kiss a few weeks prior, after their talk. But something about this was different. This was them actually taking steps to move forward - again.
Alex was nervous. She could tell Olivia was, too. Olivia looked down. She took Alex's hands and stepped closer. Alex watched closely and her blue eyes met Olivia's when she finally looked back up. She smiled and Olivia leaned forward and kissed her.
"Wow," Alex said. "That doesn't get any less magical."
"Flattery will get you everywhere," Olivia said laughing.
"Will it convince you to come inside?" Alex said. Olivia had told her earlier in the night that Lucy would be staying the night regardless of what time she got home, and encouraged her to stay out as long as she wanted.
"Oh...I...I mean...don't you think maybe it's a little soon?" Olivia said, stuttering and nervous again.
"Maybe, but I'm just inviting you inside, Liv," Alex said. "Nothing more. And remember what we talked about earlier?"
Olivia gave her a confused look, trying to figure out what she meant. They had talked about a lot that night.
"You know, about youthful innocence and taking chances, even though, as mature, responsible adults, we know it's maybe 'too soon,'" Alex explained.
Olivia pondered her proposal, giving her a smirk.
"No pressure," Alex continued. "I know we, unfortunately, have eyes-wide-open going into this, but sometimes, maybe we should just take chances and put our caution and hesitations and hurts aside."
Olivia finally smiled and squeezed Alex's hand. "To taking chances."
Alex unlocked the door, took Olivia's hand again and led her into her apartment. They were taking a chance, and both hopeful, this time, was the time they allowed their past, and their hurts, to be put aside for a future together.
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