"Did you see that?" Fin tried to follow Elliot's gaze as they walked out of the office.
"What? I didn't see anything different here."
"No, I meant the woman at the bottom of the stairs," Elliot said as he pointed to the deserted stairways.
"C'mon man, let's go look for Munch and Olivia and head back to the station."
"All right." Elliot was sure he had seen the familiar figure. But it can't be her, can it?
As he joined the other three detectives on the sidewalk, Elliot cast a quick glance around. Finally snapping back to the present, he climbed into the car and started the engine. Driving back to the station, more and more questions began to surface.
"Something on your mind, El?" Olivia had noticed her partner's lack of attention ever since they left the NYU campus.
"What? Oh it's nothing." Elliot wasn't sure if he should tell her about what he saw, but he didn't want to lie to her as well. "I just thought I saw someone I know, that's all."
"Ok, if that's what you say."
As the day went on Elliot became more and more distracted. Even the captain had noticed it. Olivia wondered if it had anything to do with the trip they made to the NYU campus earlier that day. She thought she ought to talk to Elliot to see if she could help clear things up.
-----
Walking into the office, Alex noticed just how quiet it was. Something was definitely brewing around here today. As she was looking through the mail that was in her inbox, the secretary arrived.
"Morning, Jessie." Alex smiled to the other woman.
"Morning, Ms. Cabot."
"Please, call me Alex. I'm not that old."
The younger woman chuckled. "Ok."
"Is the dean in or is he coming in late today?" Alex asked the secretary.
"He just got in, actually. Right now he's got a few people with him so you might want to wait a little."
"Oh, ok. I guess I'll give them some time before I go look for him. Thanks." She bade the other woman goodbye and turned to leave.
As she made her way out of the office and descended the stairs, a familiar voice caught her attention. You have got to be kidding me. Not even bothering to turn back to confirm her suspicions, Alex simply made a rush for the exit.
She sought sanctuary at the cafe across the street, hoping that the detectives would not make a stop for coffee there. Her stomach grumbled, and she quickly placed her order at the counter. After collecting her breakfast, which consisted of a blueberry muffin and a latte, she sat near the glass window, enabling her to watch the main entrance to the NYU building.
Moments later, Alex saw four familiar figures walking out of the door. Wow, must be a big case if Cragen's got all four of them together. Going back to her observations, she noticed that one figure in particular was looking around as if looking for something. Watching the two unmarked sedans merge with the morning traffic, Alex couldn't help but wonder. Had he seen me?
-----
The door to Cragen's office swung open, and four heads snapped up immediately to the sight of a frustrated captain. "I've had two phone calls from One PP since this morning. Tell me you've got something."
"The dean just faxed us the complete faculty list, Cap. I'm still going through it," Olivia said as she held up a file. "We've spoken to most of them this morning and so far there's nothing much to work on."
"Yeah, well, you know when's a good time to talk to the rest of them?" Cragen snapped at the detective.
Taking the not-so-subtle hint, both Elliot and Olivia picked up their coats and left the station. While Elliot drove to their destination, Olivia continued to cross check the faculty list with the list of people that they had already interviewed earlier that day. While scanning through the next page, something on it made Olivia gasp.
"Oh God."
Seeing his partner's shocked expression, Elliot tried his best to pay attention to the traffic ahead of him. "What's wrong, Liv?"
Moments turned to seconds as Olivia tried to find her voice. Taking in a few deep, slow breaths to calm her nerves, she finally spoke up.
"Alex Cabot." The female detective's voice was barely audible.
"What? What are you talking about, Liv?"
"Alex Cabot's on the faculty list."
"Wait, are we talking about the same person here? 'Cause you know, there are a lot of people with the same name." Elliot tried to sound convincing. It's gotta be her that I saw this morning.
"I guess we'll find out in a bit, won't we?" Olivia's voice was shaky. She wanted to believe her partner, but she found that to be impossible this time. There were too many coincidences, many of which she was not ready to share with the other detective.
-----
The sounds of Michael Crawford filled the air in Alex's office as she reviewed an article written by one of her students for the school's law journal. Just as soon as she started, she was distracted by a familiar voice.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the office for Alex Cabot?" Olivia asked.
"Oh, it's the second room to your left. Can't miss it, the door's always open."
"Thanks," Olivia said as she made her way to the office.
No way. Fate was playing a cruel joke on her, and Alex decided she had enough of it. Just as she got up to close the door, Olivia appeared in front of her. Breathe, Alex. Inhale, exhale. That's it. Don't panic. You can do this. Both women stood in their place, staring at the other as if breaking eye contact would wake them up from a dream. Bodies stiffened, and hearts raced. Neither knew how to react to seeing the other again. Only after what seemed like minutes did Olivia snap out of her reverie.
"Alex?"
"Yeah," the blonde said as she drew out a shaky breath.
"When?" Olivia had to ask even though she knew the answer already.
"About two months ago."
"And your Mom?"
"Yeah, I spent Thanksgiving with her."
"Olivia..." Before Alex could continue, Olivia cut her off. An array of emotions were running through her at that moment, and if she wasn't careful she would end up making a huge mistake. You've got a job to do here, Olivia. Now's not the time.
"Do you know a Sandra Pearson?" Olivia started as she fished out her notebook from her coat pocket.
Alex was taken aback by the abrupt change of tone in the detective. Although she had every intention of keeping her distance from the detective, a part of Alex was glad that she had found her once again.
"Erm, sure. She's a graduate assistant in our department. Why? Did something happen to her?"
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"Not too long ago. I saw her yesterday morning jogging at Central Park."
Wincing at the mere mention of their early morning ritual, Olivia tried to channel all her energy to bring back her focus.
"Was she with anyone at that time?"
"Not that I could see, no. What's going on, Liv? What happened to Sandra?"
"She was found dead in her home earlier this morning," Olivia said matter of factly.
"But? There has to be a reason why Cragen put the four of you on this case together." As soon as the words left her mouth Alex silently curse herself.
If Olivia had noticed the slip, she didn't show. She instead continued scribbling a few things on her notebook before she continued. "Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"
"Not that I know of. But I do know she has been going out with someone else."
"And this person would be?" Olivia was getting impatient. The sooner she wrapped up the interview, the sooner she could leave this place. An invisible wall had been built in between the both of them, and both were acting as though they barely know the other.
"Erm you know the secretary, Jessie?" At Olivia's nod, Alex continued. "I uh kinda walked in on them that one time in the lounge during my first week here."
"Oh?" The detective was surprised. The secretary had not mentioned the relationship to her when she had interviewed her earlier that morning. Making a mental note to find out more from the secretary, Olivia was barely paying attention to the woman sitting across from her.
"It was late and I thought it was strange that the janitors were still there so I went to check. I don't think they saw me though."
"Ok, thanks for your time, Alex. We'll call you if we have more questions." Olivia stood up from her seat and headed toward the door. Just before she left, she turned back to face the blonde. "It was really nice to see you again, Alex."
Alex's heart broke when the words finally registered in her head. A wave of nausea overtook her, and she had to hold on to the table to prevent from falling. Her knuckles were pale white from gripping the table edges, but she had not noticed the pain. Her whole body was numb, save for the rigorous pounding of her heart.
Real smooth, Olivia. Trust you to open your mouth and scare her away. With a heavy sigh, Olivia went on to finish off the rest of the other interviews, the encounter with Alex hanging in the back of her mind.
"What? I didn't see anything different here."
"No, I meant the woman at the bottom of the stairs," Elliot said as he pointed to the deserted stairways.
"C'mon man, let's go look for Munch and Olivia and head back to the station."
"All right." Elliot was sure he had seen the familiar figure. But it can't be her, can it?
As he joined the other three detectives on the sidewalk, Elliot cast a quick glance around. Finally snapping back to the present, he climbed into the car and started the engine. Driving back to the station, more and more questions began to surface.
"Something on your mind, El?" Olivia had noticed her partner's lack of attention ever since they left the NYU campus.
"What? Oh it's nothing." Elliot wasn't sure if he should tell her about what he saw, but he didn't want to lie to her as well. "I just thought I saw someone I know, that's all."
"Ok, if that's what you say."
As the day went on Elliot became more and more distracted. Even the captain had noticed it. Olivia wondered if it had anything to do with the trip they made to the NYU campus earlier that day. She thought she ought to talk to Elliot to see if she could help clear things up.
-----
Walking into the office, Alex noticed just how quiet it was. Something was definitely brewing around here today. As she was looking through the mail that was in her inbox, the secretary arrived.
"Morning, Jessie." Alex smiled to the other woman.
"Morning, Ms. Cabot."
"Please, call me Alex. I'm not that old."
The younger woman chuckled. "Ok."
"Is the dean in or is he coming in late today?" Alex asked the secretary.
"He just got in, actually. Right now he's got a few people with him so you might want to wait a little."
"Oh, ok. I guess I'll give them some time before I go look for him. Thanks." She bade the other woman goodbye and turned to leave.
As she made her way out of the office and descended the stairs, a familiar voice caught her attention. You have got to be kidding me. Not even bothering to turn back to confirm her suspicions, Alex simply made a rush for the exit.
She sought sanctuary at the cafe across the street, hoping that the detectives would not make a stop for coffee there. Her stomach grumbled, and she quickly placed her order at the counter. After collecting her breakfast, which consisted of a blueberry muffin and a latte, she sat near the glass window, enabling her to watch the main entrance to the NYU building.
Moments later, Alex saw four familiar figures walking out of the door. Wow, must be a big case if Cragen's got all four of them together. Going back to her observations, she noticed that one figure in particular was looking around as if looking for something. Watching the two unmarked sedans merge with the morning traffic, Alex couldn't help but wonder. Had he seen me?
-----
The door to Cragen's office swung open, and four heads snapped up immediately to the sight of a frustrated captain. "I've had two phone calls from One PP since this morning. Tell me you've got something."
"The dean just faxed us the complete faculty list, Cap. I'm still going through it," Olivia said as she held up a file. "We've spoken to most of them this morning and so far there's nothing much to work on."
"Yeah, well, you know when's a good time to talk to the rest of them?" Cragen snapped at the detective.
Taking the not-so-subtle hint, both Elliot and Olivia picked up their coats and left the station. While Elliot drove to their destination, Olivia continued to cross check the faculty list with the list of people that they had already interviewed earlier that day. While scanning through the next page, something on it made Olivia gasp.
"Oh God."
Seeing his partner's shocked expression, Elliot tried his best to pay attention to the traffic ahead of him. "What's wrong, Liv?"
Moments turned to seconds as Olivia tried to find her voice. Taking in a few deep, slow breaths to calm her nerves, she finally spoke up.
"Alex Cabot." The female detective's voice was barely audible.
"What? What are you talking about, Liv?"
"Alex Cabot's on the faculty list."
"Wait, are we talking about the same person here? 'Cause you know, there are a lot of people with the same name." Elliot tried to sound convincing. It's gotta be her that I saw this morning.
"I guess we'll find out in a bit, won't we?" Olivia's voice was shaky. She wanted to believe her partner, but she found that to be impossible this time. There were too many coincidences, many of which she was not ready to share with the other detective.
-----
The sounds of Michael Crawford filled the air in Alex's office as she reviewed an article written by one of her students for the school's law journal. Just as soon as she started, she was distracted by a familiar voice.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the office for Alex Cabot?" Olivia asked.
"Oh, it's the second room to your left. Can't miss it, the door's always open."
"Thanks," Olivia said as she made her way to the office.
No way. Fate was playing a cruel joke on her, and Alex decided she had enough of it. Just as she got up to close the door, Olivia appeared in front of her. Breathe, Alex. Inhale, exhale. That's it. Don't panic. You can do this. Both women stood in their place, staring at the other as if breaking eye contact would wake them up from a dream. Bodies stiffened, and hearts raced. Neither knew how to react to seeing the other again. Only after what seemed like minutes did Olivia snap out of her reverie.
"Alex?"
"Yeah," the blonde said as she drew out a shaky breath.
"When?" Olivia had to ask even though she knew the answer already.
"About two months ago."
"And your Mom?"
"Yeah, I spent Thanksgiving with her."
"Olivia..." Before Alex could continue, Olivia cut her off. An array of emotions were running through her at that moment, and if she wasn't careful she would end up making a huge mistake. You've got a job to do here, Olivia. Now's not the time.
"Do you know a Sandra Pearson?" Olivia started as she fished out her notebook from her coat pocket.
Alex was taken aback by the abrupt change of tone in the detective. Although she had every intention of keeping her distance from the detective, a part of Alex was glad that she had found her once again.
"Erm, sure. She's a graduate assistant in our department. Why? Did something happen to her?"
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"Not too long ago. I saw her yesterday morning jogging at Central Park."
Wincing at the mere mention of their early morning ritual, Olivia tried to channel all her energy to bring back her focus.
"Was she with anyone at that time?"
"Not that I could see, no. What's going on, Liv? What happened to Sandra?"
"She was found dead in her home earlier this morning," Olivia said matter of factly.
"But? There has to be a reason why Cragen put the four of you on this case together." As soon as the words left her mouth Alex silently curse herself.
If Olivia had noticed the slip, she didn't show. She instead continued scribbling a few things on her notebook before she continued. "Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"
"Not that I know of. But I do know she has been going out with someone else."
"And this person would be?" Olivia was getting impatient. The sooner she wrapped up the interview, the sooner she could leave this place. An invisible wall had been built in between the both of them, and both were acting as though they barely know the other.
"Erm you know the secretary, Jessie?" At Olivia's nod, Alex continued. "I uh kinda walked in on them that one time in the lounge during my first week here."
"Oh?" The detective was surprised. The secretary had not mentioned the relationship to her when she had interviewed her earlier that morning. Making a mental note to find out more from the secretary, Olivia was barely paying attention to the woman sitting across from her.
"It was late and I thought it was strange that the janitors were still there so I went to check. I don't think they saw me though."
"Ok, thanks for your time, Alex. We'll call you if we have more questions." Olivia stood up from her seat and headed toward the door. Just before she left, she turned back to face the blonde. "It was really nice to see you again, Alex."
Alex's heart broke when the words finally registered in her head. A wave of nausea overtook her, and she had to hold on to the table to prevent from falling. Her knuckles were pale white from gripping the table edges, but she had not noticed the pain. Her whole body was numb, save for the rigorous pounding of her heart.
Real smooth, Olivia. Trust you to open your mouth and scare her away. With a heavy sigh, Olivia went on to finish off the rest of the other interviews, the encounter with Alex hanging in the back of her mind.
