Chapter Three
Olivia watched sadly as Alex retreated back down the hotel hallway. She had a job to do. Specifically, "Miranda" had a job to do, and Olivia had a girlfriend to attend to provided that Casey was still awake. Once Alex had rounded the corner and was out of sight, Olivia opened the hotel door to her room and walked inside.
"Did you talk to her?" Casey asked. She was sitting on the couch with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands. The bags under her eyes still hinted that she was tired, but her voice sounded more normal than it had when the two of them first arrived. She had changed out of her suit and was now wearing a black tank top and some sweatpants. "Liv, you ok?" she asked with concern as she moved over slightly on the couch for her girlfriend to sit down.
Olivia nodded slightly. "I suppose," she said. "It's complicated, Casey," she admitted. She was not trying to exclude Casey from her life. Casey was the one person she would be willing to share anything with, but this was different. She did not know how Casey would react to it.
"Is that code for you think you still might be interested in that woman?" Casey asked.
"No," Olivia confirmed. "Well, not in the sense that I would leave you for her," Olivia corrected as she picked up Casey's hand and held it in her own. She had to make that point clear.
Casey nodded understandingly. "She was your first, wasn't she?"
"Yes," Olivia admitted. "She was, but that doesn't mean I'm going back to her. You have nothing to worry about," she assured Casey. "I'm all yours now."
Casey smiled as she leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss on Olivia's lips. "I know," she said. "But this coffee's not doing much for me, so I think I'm going to turn in for the night." She hugged Olivia, kissed her again, then stood up and walked over to the other half of the room where the bed was. "I love you, Liv."
"Love you, too, Case," Olivia whispered back as her girlfriend climbed into their bed. "I think I'm going to call Elliot first. I'll be there in a little bit." She doubted Casey fully heard her. The redhead was too busy shifting positions in the bed trying to get comfortable. Once she stopped moving, Olivia was positive that Casey was once again asleep. It was a long day, and seeing Alex, even if she did not recognize her, could not have been easy.
It definitely was not easy for Olivia. She had so much that she wanted to say to Alex. She had so many things that she wanted to know about Alex's life, so many things she wanted Alex to know about her life. All of that could not have been contained in one short elevator ride. She knew she had to see Alex again. She had to before they left Atlantic City.
She grabbed her cell phone and walked over to the bathroom. She closed the door behind her to avoid any possibility of waking Casey then dialed Elliot's cell phone number. "Come on, Elliot," she whispered. Her partner answered after three rings.
"Stabler," he said through a slightly muffled voice.
Olivia looked down at her watch. It was only 11:30. She understood why Casey was so tired. She had been stuck in a car for the past several hours after a long day in court for the most part. But Elliot…She shrugged it off. This was too important to wait until morning. "El, it's me," she said. "You will not believe who I saw in this hotel."
"Livvy, I don't get out much," Elliot complained. "I don't see many movies. I don't read many books. I don't listen to much music, and I don't watch a lot of sports. Whoever this person is probably is not worth interrupting my one free night of sleeping."
Olivia groaned. "It's not someone famous," she told him. "It's someone you and I know. Everyone else thinks she's dead."
Elliot blinked for a moment as he crawled out of his bed. He glanced next to him and walked over to his bathroom. "Are you sure?" he asked her once he was alone in his bathroom with the door closed. "You're not just imagining things?"
"Elliot, I know my girlfriend when I see her, and this was definitely her. She works at the hotel we're at. When Casey gave her our name, she left," Olivia said.
"And you're sure its not just one of the many people you've probably pissed off during your tenure in the NYPD?" Elliot asked. "Look, Liv, I want to believe you, but I don't want you to get your hopes up. I can't bear to see you hurt like that, and I don't want to have to bear the thought of Casey handling you like that."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "I trust Casey with my emotions, thank you very much. I also know that it's her. I talked to her in the elevator."
"And she said she was Alex Cabot?" Elliot asked. "Just like that? In front of Casey?"
"No, Casey was already on her way to the room," Olivia explained. She knew exactly how it happened. She could restate that moment a thousand times if she had to. A hundred thousand, easily. She walked into the elevator. Alex was already in there, standing in the back right corner. "But she said it. She's going by the name Miranda here."
"The right to remain silent," Elliot mused. "Smart."
Olivia smiled. "She's a smart girl." She sighed heavily as she sat down on the cold, tiled floor of the bathroom. "I still miss her, El."
"I know," Elliot said. "I miss her, too."
"She asked about you," Olivia told him. "Well, the SVU in general, but still. You're part of the SVU. I told him you're fine. We're all fine."
"Well, we will be," Elliot told her. "If you see her tomorrow, tell her that I miss her like hell, and she better get her ass out of Witness Protection soon. Not too soon that it's unsafe, but as soon as she's out, I want to see her in that squad room."
Olivia smiled. "Will do," she promised him.