Interlude – Partners

"How did he know where to find her?" Olivia asked her partner at the hospital while they waited for Serena's x-rays.

Elliot shrugged.  "He could've followed her, or maybe he was just hanging around the places he knows that she's likely to show up."  He cast an odd look at Olivia.  "Something about this one bothering you?"

"They all bother me, Elliot," said Olivia.

"You sure?   Didn't you crash in the crib last night?"

Olivia scoffed.  "Like you haven't grabbed a couple of hours in there when we were on a hot case."

"And the night before last…"

"Elliot."  Her tone warned him to drop it.  He was forced to do so as his phone rang; he wandered a few feet away to take the call.

The truth of it was Olivia still hadn't shaken Alex from her system.  There had been no warning, only the shock of cruel surprise.  Alex had left so abruptly that the fact of her departure hadn't really hit Olivia for a few days, and when it had, she had curled up on her bed for hours, practically catatonic.

Meeting Serena Southerlyn a few months ago hadn't helped.  The blonde hair and blue eyes were so reminiscent of Cabot, though physically the two women were otherwise nothing alike.  Alex had been long and lean, whereas Serena was shorter and more compact.  Where Alex had been the mature professional, Southerlyn seemed younger somehow, less willing to acknowledge that the world sometimes worked with a wink and a nod.  And while Alex already had the independence that made her such a good match for SVU, Serena seemed to regard Jack McCoy as her mentor and took second chair at trial.  Her relative youth only made Olivia more determined to protect her.

"All right.  We'll see you at the station house."  Elliot flipped his phone shut and came back to Olivia.  "That was Fin.  Pooler was spotted heading east on 101st.  He and Munch are gonna follow Pooler, maybe see if they can find out where he's been holing up all this time."

"God, if he disappears again, who knows when he'll come back up for air," said Olivia.  She ran her hands through her hair, wondered if she should get it cut again.

"You remember what Huang said.  The guy can't stay away.  We just have to stick close to Serena."

"For how long, Elliot?  What kind of life is that, having cops breathing down your neck every second of the day, just waiting for the other shoe to drop?"  Olivia let her head sag.  "It feels like a losing battle, sometimes." 

Elliot regarded his partner thoughtfully.  "You saying you want to quit?"

Olivia gave him a withering look but he responded with his most neutral face, knowing that her irritation with him was a small price to pay.  They both needed a little boost every now and then.  "You know what it is," she said.

"You can't save everybody," said Elliot.

"Used to be I thought I could," said Olivia, letting some of her fatigue creep into her voice. 

Serena came out of the exam room, followed by the doctor.  She looked woozy from the painkillers.  Enunciating very clearly, she told the detectives, "I hate hospitals."