A/N: The final installment of Who Am I? I don't know if my muse is done with it, I think it is. I hope you have enjoyed it. With out further ado the completion of Who Am I:
Who Am I?
3.
/Friday Dr. May's office/
Olivia walked into the office and eyed the chair; its black leather seemed to call her to sit. She chose to stand. If she sat she might loose her nerve.
"I think I'm ready to talk about it."
Dr. Mays looked up to see Olivia pacing, hands on head, fingers entwined together in her short brown hair.
"Okay, would you like to sit?"
"No… not yet."
Dr. Mays nodded. Waiting for Olivia to start.
"My most common nightmare." Olivia started as if doing a report for a class.
"They are about Alex. Alexandra Cabot." She brought her hands down off her head and ran them over her face before crossing them across her chest, finding that not comfortable, and stuffing them into the loose pockets of her black chinos.
"What are they about." Dr. Mays probed gently.
"She was shot after a big case, there was a contract out on her. She was shot right in front of me. We were told she had died. But my partner and I found out that she was alive, in Witness Protection, she wanted us to know, and she wouldn't leave unless we knew. I was afraid that she would die in WP and I wouldn't find out, or that she wouldn't come back. I always saw her laying on the sidewalk, her blood, spilling around my hand as I tried to put pressure on her wound." She finished breathlessly.
"Who is she too you." Dr. Mays asked softly after a moment of watching Olivia pace, head down.
Olivia stopped her pacing and dropped into the chair head in hands.
"I don't know?" Olivia replied confusion evident in her voice.
Dr. Mays waited; she could sense that there was more.
"She was our ADA at the time, she was my friend, my colleague, is my friend. She took care of me while I was out sick with the flu; she had just gotten back. She didn't have to but she did."
Olivia looked up with tears in her eyes to Dr. Mays. "I don't know where we stand. I'm so confused."
"Have you talked to her, tried to sort this out."
"No, I'm scared. I don't want to loose a friend."
"If she is as you say, I'm sure you won't loose a friend."
"I just need some time to think this out."
"Maybe you should be talking to Alex."
"Maybe…"
&&&
Olivia made her way into the precinct. She had stayed at Dr. Mays' office longer then usually. They had decided to not go the whole two weeks, just four days, she was making progress and they didn't want to loose that. Dr. Mays really got deep into Olivia today. The whole session tired Olivia out but she knew she needed to work today, just to help clear her mind, as crazy as that was.
When she entered the Squad room there was a lot of commotion.
"What do you mean he might get out?" A woman waving a copy of the post shouted.
"I'm sorry ma'am but new evidence has been introduced…" Cragen tried to calm the very distraught young woman.
"After 3 years!" the woman interrupted the captain.
"It's not necessarily evidence to get him out, but his attorneys want to try. Let's go somewhere private and discuss this." Cragen tried to guide the woman into the interrogation room. She followed reluctantly.
The room watched the door close behind them.
"What was that all about?" Olivia asked Elliot as she sat in the chair.
"Wow did you miss a morning and a half, sleep late?"
"No had a legit appointment, Cragen knew. So what happened?"
"Well remember that case we worked with Cabot on a few years back. Woman raped in apartment, ex boyfriend convicted on somewhat shoddy evidence, but it was the best we could do."
"Oh yeah, the evidence was a fingerprint and an eye witness putting him outside the apartment that night, that wasn't really shoddy evidence, but I remember his lawyer tried to paint that picture. That was a bad case… they all are really. I remember Alex being pissed because we couldn't get anymore evidence but we all knew it was him, God even his lawyer knew it was him."
"Alex still got him convicted anyway, even with the evidence. Well we have new evidence, well not really new evidence but remember how there were mysterious marks on the vics body, we got pics of them during the rape kit."
"Yeah they were strange, like she was branded or something."
"Well another case was taken in just yesterday by the Bronx SVU with the same marking, our guy is still in jail so it wasn't him. The marks match Liv. The press got a hold of it, the ex boyfriend's lawyer got a hold of it, and they are both running with it. I think they were friends of something, I don't think that this guy should get out." Elliot finished his tyrant.
Olivia sat there letting the whole settle in. "Wow. What do we have to do?"
"Nothing really we just need to be able to cooperate with the Bronx SVU if they need some of our info, and rework the case a little. The ADA's office is going handle it mostly through the courts but we might need to testify. Casey was not happy she was here briefly early this morning, she was talking to Cragen when I got here around 7:30."
"Wow." Olivia said again, getting up and going to the coffeepot to pour herself a cup, it was going to continue being a long day.
It was well after 2 in the afternoon when Casey came back to the squad room to go over things with Elliot and Olivia; they had been the lead detectives on the case three years ago.
They all sat in one of the interrogation rooms with papers strewn all over the table. They sat there going over the evidence for an hour and half. Not getting anywhere.
"I wonder if Alex remembers anything about this case?" Elliot mused.
"Hey I bet she does." Olivia's eyes lit up; maybe they could get this case squared away today, so she could just enjoy the weekend off. She had some serious thinking to do this weekend.
"What do you think Casey should we bring in Cabot?" Elliot asked hopefully, he too wanted to get the case wrapped up on their end so he could enjoy the weekend with his family.
"Lets give another run through before we bring her in." Casey said walking around the table once more desperately trying to locate the information that they would need.
The three of them went over the case they did and the new evidence that they had on the Bronx rape. There was something that they were missing, there had to be.
"Alright fine call in Cabot." Casey said exasperatingly as she threw another folder of testimony on the pile.
Elliot left the room to make the call. They all took a break while they waited for Alex to get there.
Twenty minutes later Alex came into the squad room.
"Okay guys what do we have?"
The four of them made their way back into the interrogation room where all the papers were still out on the table. Elliot filled her in on the cases.
"Yeah I remember that case. The defense had a crappy approach. Hell even his lawyer knew he did it, you could tell. Why does he want to try and get him out?"
"The new evidence actually looks like he might not have done it…. Or not done it alone."
"Hmm, well lets see." Alex sifted through the paperwork and testimonies from the case. As she flipped through one testimony she stopped short.
"Wait, this guy here," She held out the file to Casey, who was standing against the wall. "When we interviewed him, he said he was best friends with the ex-boyfriend. He had an alibi for the night of this rape a solid one, but something tells me that he might have known about it, hold on."
Alex got up and shifted through an evidence folder on the very bottom of the pile.
"Here it is, I thought I remembered something about this. Look there were other reported rapes with these marks present, the guy or guys were never caught because they were very particular on not leaving evidence. I bet our guy got sloppy with his ex and his partner in crime didn't know about this one because it wasn't suppose to happen."
"Then our boy in the Bronx decided to lay low for a while then strike again." Elliot finished for her.
"Most likely. Get the friend back and talk him." Casey said as she looked through the files that Alex handed her.
"I'll call the Bronx SVU and have them with us when we get him." Olivia left the room to make the call.
"Hey Elliot?" Alex called to him as they all prepared to exit the room.
"Yeah." He stopped and faced Alex.
"Is everything okay with Liv?" She asked concern written on her face.
"I don't know Alex, I don't know." Elliot shook his head in reply.
"As long as her work is not affected." Casey said as she breezed past them.
Alex and Elliot both glared at her as she exited the room before them. Why did have to be so cold sometimes. One of their own was having trouble. They had to watch each other's backs even when they weren't on the job.
&&&
/That night at the Bar/
"Good work detectives. Alex you really helped us out today."
"Thanks Cragen."
Alex, Cragen, Elliot, Munch, Fin, Olivia and even Casey sat around a big table celebrating the great day they put in. Elliot and Olivia were finally having a weekend off; Munch and Fin were to be on call.
Olivia smiled and laughed with the group for a while then retreated back into her chair. She was lost in thought thinking about what Dr. Mays had said earlier in the day, she couldn't believe that it was just that morning that she was sitting in the good doctors office.
"So Alex how was your first day of teaching yesterday?" Cragen asked. This brought Olivia out of her zone, she wanted to hear again how the day went.
"Well we didn't get much done, it was the first day, I just got the syllabus out and we talked about the class a bit and the book and what to expect from each other. I think it is going to be a great semester."
"That sounds great Alex. Here's to Professor Cabot." Elliot called rising his mug to the sky. Everyone followed suit toasting a smiling Alex.
"Well I need to get home to the kids." Elliot called after another hour of talk and food.
"Yeah I should get going too." Munch called, grabbing for his jacket.
"Me too." Olivia said absent-mindedly.
Everyone dropped money on the table and made their way out into the night. It was hard to believe it was almost 10:30. They had spent a long evening enjoying the non-working company.
Elliot caught up to Olivia on their way out of the bar.
"Liv, are you okay, you zoned out for quite a while in there." Elliot touched her shoulder.
Olivia hung her head choosing her words. "Yeah El, I'll be fine. I got to start working on some personal stuff this weekend. But everything will be okay."
"Are you sure?" Elliot lightly squeezed her shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Olivia smiled lightly, and turned placing her hand in her coat pocket and walked away. Her unzipped coat flapped lightly in the wind as she strolled down the street.
Elliot watched her go, shook his head lightly with his hands on his hips. He then turned toward his car and headed home. He was looking forward to playing with his kids all weekend and spending time with his wife.
&&&
Once home, Olivia turned out the lights and lit a lavender scented candle that she had bought and placed on the coffee table. Dr. Mays had been right; lavender really helped calm your nerves. She shut her eyes letting the darkness and the scent take over her body.
Knock Knock Knock
The harsh sound brought Olivia's eyes wide, registering where she was and the time; she got up and answered the door.
Alex.
She let Alex in and they both sat on the couch facing each other. Olivia kind of felt sick to her stomach, but she tired to suppress the feeling.
"Olivia, are you okay, you've seemed distant the last week. Well the entire time I've been back actually, I just chalked it up to being sick at first." Alex said in one breath, though softly.
"I just need time to figure stuff out, I think, Alex. I'm just trying to figure out who I am anymore, what I need."
Olivia scooted up the couch moving closer to Alex. Seeing if she understood what she can't say. Alex searched her face, looking everywhere but directly in her eyes.
"How long?"
"I don't know."
Alex nods. Then shakes her head, no Olivia shouldn't have to go through this alone.
Alex reaches out and brushes her had across Olivia's cheek mirroring the action Olivia once used to calm her along time ago, before hell broke loose. Olivia leaned into the soft caress, closing her eyes. It felt so right to be this close, but so confusing still.
Alex closed the distance between them. Capturing Olivia's lips in a chaste kiss. She pulled away her hand shacking slightly. Olivia closed her hand round the shaking hand. She reached up with her other hand and traced Alex's jaw line, drawing her back toward her. This time Olivia took Alex's mouth in her own. Gently kissing her bottom lip, then gently letting her tongue seek entrance. Alex reciprocated every move. Unspoken questions were answered. After a few moments they pulled apart. A single tear ran down Alex's face neither one took care of it, letting it fall.
Olivia grabbed a pillow and placed it on her lap. She drew Alex down to rest her head. She carefully placed her hand through the long blonde hair. Alex slowly drifted to sleep in the comfort of Olivia's touch. Olivia watched the sleeping attorney/professor for a few minutes before drifting off herself. It felt so right.
End