A/N: Here is the first of 10 chapters for this Academia AU. Thanks to those who told me to write it since I already had a plot for it on the SVU Discord.
Fucking staff meetings. If she had to sit through another one of these listening to Alex Cabot say that the department of Criminal Justice and Law needed more funding over the language department she would… well she couldn't quit. Tenured jobs like hers were hard to come by and she loved teaching on this campus.
She'd just have to put up the blonde for now. It's not like they interacted much outside of these monthly department head meetings. At least this meeting was supposed to be a short one. Some budget talk for the campus and some things about 'updating the school's infrastructure'. Not that Liv particularly cared for the infrastructure. It was all road construction, should they move their internet service from Comcast to Dish, shit that the President should have opinions on and not leave to the heads of his departments. But Jack McCoy was nothing if not thorough regarding listening to each department head.
Liv walked to the admin building, cutting to the back and sitting on the bench in the smoking area. She set her folio down next to her, sighing.
"I didn't know you smoked?"
Great, just who she didn't want to run into. Alex Cabot's perfect, long legs were in front of her.
"I didn't know you did either Cabot. And I don't smoke. Just came here to sit alone before the monthly meeting." She raised her eyebrow at the blonde and was surprised to see her blushing.
"I don't normally. Only when I'm really stressed out. So… a few times during the semester." Olivia watched her slim fingers pull a cigarette from her purse. She clicked her lighter multiple times, then groaned.
"Here." Olivia surprised herself, flipping open her Zippo and lighting Alex's cigarette. She watched the blonde inhale, closing her lighter.
"So you don't smoke, but you carry around a lighter Professor Benson?"
Olivia laughed. "Olivia. I know we don't get along. But keep calling me Professor Benson and I'll be looking around for my mother."
She watched as Alex's eyebrow rose a bit. "Still doesn't explain why you carry a lighter Olivia."
Christ. Olivia fought the urge to roll her eyes. She'd forgotten that Cabot had once been a prosecutor at the DAs office.
"My mom smoked. I quit. Still carry around the lighter though." She shrugged. It was truly amazing that she and Cabot were out here talking like normal people before this meeting. Would wonders never cease.
"Well thank you Olivia. See you inside." Alex crushed her cigarette against the trashcan and threw the butt inside.
"Uh-huh." Olivia nodded at the woman, wondering absently what she did to work out. She had great legs. She shook her head at the thought, grabbing her leather folio and walking into the building.
She made polite small talk waiting for the meeting to start, grabbing a cup of coffee and a donut from the table in the corner of the room, already wanting to be back in her office. She was saved from more awkward small talk by the arrival of Jack.
"Alright everyone. Let's get started." As everyone else sat down, Olivia scowled as she realized the only spot left was to the right of Alex Cabot. Great! Just what she needed. To get into an argument with the blonde while they were right next to each other instead of across the conference room table.
"First order of business: we're looking to improve the school with the new tax money from Bond B. The school was just given $25 million for construction. The two oldest building on this campus are the Criminal Justice building and the Language building. Professor Cabot and Professor Benson, what are your thoughts?"
Before Olivia could even open her mouth she heard the blonde's voice. "Well Jack, law and criminal justice have seen enrollment rising at nearly 25% a semester. We're to the point that I'm having to have dual sections online/in person so we can keep all of the students in the same classroom space without needing to hire another professor for the department."
She watched as McCoy nodded. "That may be true Alex, but the language department is seeing enrollment up nearly as much. Last year we saw a 15% increase in our student enrollment and with the graduate program growing as well, we're in need of more smart technology equipped rooms and another language lab."
The blonde nodded to her. "Sure, I can completely understand Olivia. But we are physically out of room in the department. We've got all professors in the department sharing offices and our graduate students as well. A lot of the work that we're doing there can be confidential with the graduate students in criminal justice. I'd also like to be able to have a small law library within the building so that we aren't taking up a whole floor of the campus library."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "God forbid the law students and paralegal program students have to interact with the others while they're studying."
"Now excuse me-" Alex turned to look at her. The cerulean blue orbs were narrowed, Alex's face a cross between a hard look and a smirk.
"Just because lawyers think they're better than everyone doesn't mean that the funding should go to your department Cabot."
She watched as Alex rolled her eyes, her voice hard as she spoke next.
"I'm sorry that you have such a low opinion of us lawyers Benson, but the fact remains, we have no space in our building. I can't help the program grow, keeping up with the new enrollment in the space that the building has. Doesn't the language building have a few open classrooms still?"
Olivia could feel the muscles in her jaw twitch. This woman knew how to get under her skin like no other she'd ever met. "We're not using them because we need to put a language lab and a new projection system in the lecture hall."
Alex scoffed. "So you can't just write on the blackboard like the rest of us? Who's the one who's too good now?"
"Ladies! Honestly!" Jack McCoy's voice floated towards them.
"Those are necessary in a room that big Cabot. The students who sit-"
"Enough!" Jack McCoy was standing at the head of the conference room table. She'd never seen him stand like that, hands gripping the table, red-faced.
"If you two cannot act like two polite colleagues then I'll have to ask you to leave and we'll consider this funding going to another department on campus."
"You can't do that!"
"She started it!"
The two responses were said at the same time. Olivia rolled her eyes at Alex Cabot's look of disbelief.
"Either sit down and discuss this rationally or I'll remove the two of you from this meeting." He was staring between the two of them, face hard.
"Fine." Olivia turned away from the blonde, moving as far to the left as she could before bumping into the head of the math department.
"At least there are only two meetings left in the semester." Olivia jumped, not expecting anyone to be behind her and spilling her coffee.
"Sorry John, I didn't hear you come up behind me." She dried the coffee spill on the staff room table.
John shrugged. "Shoulda been a cop with my silence."
She laughed. "Yeah well then you might have had to work with Cabot while she was at the DAs office."
"Ahhh so it is that long-legged blonde that has you upset." He looked at her from over his glasses, amused smile on his face.
"Yeah, she thinks the funding from Bond B should be going to her department over ours." Olivia couldn't help the anger seeping into her tone.
"Well maybe it should. I was talking to Liz the day. Apparently their classes are about 40 students, 20 in class and 20 online. No more free classrooms for an extra section."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "We still need to have classrooms equipped with projector and a new language lab for all of our classes. That new building would let us do that."
John nodded, drinking his own coffee. "I also heard that you and Cabot really got in each other's faces today. Heard it was something not to miss."
Olivia looked at him in confusion. "Why would you care if I'm fighting with Alex Cabot?"
He wiggled his eyebrows. "Melinda said it was something to behold."
"And how does what Dr. Warner says interest met?"
John grinned. "Because apparently she's convinced you're attracted to her. You know the whole pulling hair stage we all go through in elementary school?"
She scoffed. Sure Alex Cabot was attractive enough to look at, but she hated her. "Why did I even bother to ask? Keep your fantasies to yourself John. Sometimes people just… hate each other. For good reason."
Olivia looked down at her phone. "Fuck. I have to teach a Spanish poetry class in 10 minutes." She grabbed her mug of coffee, walking away.