Finding Olivia

Chapter 1: Skepticism

Disclaimer: Not mine. Accept in my dreams. I like to dream.

Elliot walked into the squad room the next morning and stared at the still empty desk where Olivia used to sit. He missed her so much. He slumped into his own chair and pulled a stack of paperwork towards him. Until Cragen found him a new partner, paperwork would be the extent of his job.

A new partner, the thought made Elliot nauseas. He knew that Olivia wanted him to move on with his life but he didn't want to move on, he wanted her. He didn't want a new partner, there was only one partner for him and he wanted more than anything to know where she was.

He looked up when he heard someone enter the squad room and saw George Huang. George was FBI, Elliot was out of his seat in an instant and grabbed the short man. He pulled George off to the side and into the nearest interview room. The psychiatrist stared at the detective in pure confusion. Elliot opened his mouth "I need to find her," the words came out more desperate and fearful in their tone than he had intended them to.

"What?" George had no idea what Elliot was talking about. Truthfully, maybe he would have been able to figure it out if he hadn't been so shocked by the uncharacteristic tone of Elliot's voice.

"Olivia!" Elliot screamed frantically as if George should have already known. He lowered his voice when he became aware of the silence of the squad room "She went undercover."

"If she's undercover," George began "You aren't supposed to know where she is. That's the whole point of being undercover."

"I just need to know that she's all right," Elliot begged.

"And if you compromise an investigation, you could wind up endangering her life," George told him.

"I know that," Elliot spoke evenly "I want to bring her home and keep her safe,"

"You can't always protect her Elliot," George said as he turned away.

"No," Elliot agreed as George walked off "But I can try."

George turned around and saw the determination in Elliot's eyes. The love that he must have possessed for Olivia had to have been powerful. George shook his head as he questioned the ethical implications of what he was about to do "Come on," he said to Elliot.

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Olivia opened her eyes and rolled out of bed. Her first day as Persephone Free James, the name made her want to laugh. She never would have guessed when she met that air headed woman in the greenhouse that she would become her.

She shook her head and tried to focus. She was Persephone now. As a loyal member of EDG she had come to Oregon to further the cause. She had jumped bail after being arrested in New York. Her boyfriend Mitchell Hissam was still in jail there but he had wanted her to come.

She sighed, she hated this. If she had known that she would be enlisted to go undercover this way, she might have thought twice about going undercover with Haley. She wished that they had gone with Casey's suggestion of an ankle bracelet to keep track of Haley instead. Hell, Haley had murdered but she had only murdered the man who raped her. Olivia probably would have let her go if she hadn't been about to blow up a building.

She walked out the door, feeling completely naked without her gun and feeling completely alone. She wore a wire of course but that didn't make her feel any better. She wished Elliot was with her in this unfamiliar place. She walked to the bus stop and checked the schedule in her hand. Her bus was supposed to come in a matter of minutes.

She sat on the bench and waited. She watched as children with brightly colored backpacks walked to school by themselves. Oregon was much different than New York. She missed the hustle and bustle of the city. She missed watching the over protective parents who watched their children's every move. She missed Elliot.

Damn, she had to stop thinking about him. If she thought too much about him she might say something out loud and blow her cover. She was dangerously close to blowing it now. The bus came and she got on. She sat in a seat by herself and reached into her bag. She pulled out a piece of paper and glanced over the information. She was supposed to meet with a Mr. Derek Moonshower and his wife Natalie at the organic food store to interview for a job.

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Elliot stood face to face with Agent Dana Lewis aka Star Morrison, the woman responsible for taking Olivia away from him "Where is she?" he asked in a venomous tone.

"Elliot," she began "You know I can't tell you that."

"Bullshit!" he spat, he lowered his voice "I'm in the hospital for three days and when I get out, I discover that my partner is gone. Someone owes me some damn answers."

"I don't owe you anything," she replied evenly.

Elliot took a step closer to her, staring her down with a dangerous look in his eyes "What happened to her?" he asked. He had tried never to hit a woman in his life. There had been a few notable exceptions and as he listened to this woman's detached answers, he thought she might become an exception.

"She successfully infiltrated," Star answered "We lost our informant, we needed her."

Elliot felt the anger bubbling up inside him "Where is she?" he asked again.

"I can't tell you that," she told him as she turned to paperwork on her desk.

"You never even gave her a choice did you!" He screamed at the woman in front of him "You tricked her and backed her into a corner!" he took another step so that he was inches from her face "I'll ask you one last time. Where is she?"

Star looked at the fire in the eyes of the man who was standing too close to her for her own comfort "Leave now or I'll get someone to make you."

"I'm not leaving until I know where she is," Elliot responded.

"You'd be doing yourself a favor if you forgot about her," Star told him.

"You cold unfeeling bitch!" Elliot screamed as he launched a fist at her.

Star ducked out of the path of his fist and reached up, capturing his wrist in her hand. She held it so tight that the bone nearly cracked "Forget about her," she repeated before reaching for her phone "You have five minutes to get out of here before I have you arrested."

Elliot yanked his wrist away from her iron grasp and dropped his arm to his side "This isn't over," he said as he left her office "I'm not giving up on her."

Star watched him leave "That's just fine with me detective," she smiled to herself.

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"She's lying," Elliot fought to restrain himself as he walked along the sidewalks of New York with George.

"Of course she is," George responded "She's trying to conduct an investigation and you are threatening to compromise the integrity of that investigation," George was wondering why he had brought Elliot to the federal building in the first place. Getting the hotheaded detective a meeting with Star hadn't gone the way that George had hoped.

"Damn it," Elliot rammed his fist into the side of a building as he leaned against it. His strength had been entirely drained from worrying about Olivia. He couldn't sleep or eat since he had learned that she was gone. Even finding the letter had done little to soothe his fears "I don't care about her damn investigation."

George put a hand on Elliot's shoulder "I know you miss her but this is an important investigation."

"I don't trust her," Elliot said simply.

"Who," George's tone was surprised "Olivia?"

"No," Elliot was quick to clarify "I don't trust Star."

George shook his head. The truth was that he had his doubts about her too but he couldn't let Elliot know that "I'm sure she's looking out for Olivia," the words sounded hollow in his head and he began to see things more from Elliot's prospective.

"Why ask Olivia to go undercover?" Elliot asked "She's not FBI. She's never been undercover for more than a few days at a time."

"From what I understand," George started to impart what little he knew about the situation "Haley Kern attempted to blow up the target that Olivia had gone undercover with her to save," he paused "She was shot but Olivia's undercover identity wasn't compramized."

"Who shot her," Elliot asked softly.

George took a moment before answering "Star. But Elliot-"

"That's how she treats her informants," Elliot clenched his fists.

"The girl was about to blow up a building," George became confrontational.

"Why didn't she shoot to wound?" Elliot asked.

"We're trained to shoot to kill," George answered.

"I don't care what you're trained to do!" Elliot screamed "Unless you are a total moron, you know how to shoot someone and not kill them!"

"Sometimes its not that easy," George said softly as he turned away and started walking again.

"Oh really," Elliot chased after the other man "And I suppose that when Olivia turns up dead that it won't be anyone's fault!"

George spun around "She's not gonna wind up dead," he said with total conviction.

"How can you be sure?" Elliot fired back. When George hesitated Elliot continued "You can't can you?"

"There are no guaranties in life Elliot," George said, turning away again.

"There never have been," Elliot kept pace with George as he spoke "At least when she was here I knew for sure that she was safe. We talked at almost every night," his voice became low as his emotions threatened to spill over "She's my closest friend. I'd never let anything happen to her even…" he trailed off "Even if saving her gets in the way of an investigation."

George nodded. He understood that Elliot's feelings for his partner ran deep but still there wasn't much he could do. If George jeopardized an ongoing investigation, it would be his ass on the line "I'm sorry Elliot," he stepped into the street and hailed a cab to take him back to the station "I can't help you."

In hind sight, George's exit might have been more dramatic if he and Elliot didn't share a cab on the way back to the precinct and George might not have felt so lame if he had had his wallet with him and didn't have to ask Elliot to pay for the cab. George's words echoed in the silent cab for the duration of the ride. Elliot's presence caused George to be able to think of little else other than how he had flat out refused to help his friend. When they reached the station, Elliot stepped out and headed back to his desk to finish his paperwork in silence.

George headed to his office and sat in his chair. After ten minutes of wallowing in his own self loathing, he reached for the phone. He dialed a good friend of his.

"Lockwood," the man on the other end of the phone answered.

"Joe, it's George," George spoke quickly "I need you to do me a favor."

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"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. James," Derek Moonshower reached his hand out to Olivia.

Olivia shook his hand and smiled "Please, call me… Persephone," she had almost said 'Call me Olivia' damn it she had to be more careful.

Derek smiled at her then turned to some papers that lay on his desk "You have an impressive resume Persephone. I think you might be over qualified to stock shelves in our simple store."

"I like to be hands on," Olivia told him.

"Good," Derek turned to grab a green vest "This is your uniform," he handed the vest to her "When can you start?"

"Right away," she answered, accepting the vest from her new boss.

A woman entered the small office. She was on the skinny side and timid looking her hair was a mousy brown and her eyes were hazel. When she saw Olivia she froze in her tracks and took on the appearance of a deer in headlights. The red flag went up in Olivia's mind. Olivia took a step nearer to the woman and held out her hand "Hi," she smiled warmly.

"Natalie sweetheart," Derek said from behind Olivia "This is Persephone. She's our new stock girl."

"Nice to meet you," Natalie said in a small voice as she took the hand that Olivia offered and shook it just barely. She turned to her husband "Andy called," she told him in the same small voice.

"Natalie, sweetie," Derek said through gritted teeth and made what he thought was a covert gesture in Olivia's direction.

Natalie nodded "I'm sorry," she whispered before leaving the office.

Derek turned back to Olivia as if the incident had never happened "Natalie works out back in the garden," he explained.

Olivia nodded "Is there anything else or can I get to work?" she asked.

"No that's fine," Derek told her "The storerooms are in back. Jeremy can show you the ropes."

"Thanks," Olivia left the office and headed out back to where the storerooms were. When she had reached the appropriately labeled door, she saw a door to her left that was open; it was the door that led to the garden. She took a few steps towards it and peered into the bright sunlight of the day. She could see Natalie bending over a strawberry plant. The other woman's shirt rode up in the back and Olivia could see part of what appeared to be a footprint shaped bruise on her back. Olivia quickly moved back inside the building and leaned against the wall. Just what had she gotten herself into?

TBC

Okay so here it is, the sequel that I promised. It took me a while to think of a plot but I think I might actually have one. Although I say that a lot and my original plot idea sometimes changes. Please review and let me know if you liked it and if you hated it, please review and tell me how to make it better.