A/N: I recently started watching SVU again from the beginning and am right in the middle of what I affectionately refer to as The Alex Years. I've been shipping these two for approximately 20 years at this point, and am feeling nostalgic AF, so here we are!

Title inspired by San Cisco's song "Wild Things"

"There wasn't any physical evidence, Detective!" Alex stresses condescendingly. She hates that their perp had walked free just as much as Olivia does, but that doesn't mean she's going to let herself be blamed for losing the case after she had done everything in her power to get a conviction. She continues her tirade as they storm into her apartment and fling their coats off onto the nearest armchair.

"They'd had a sexual relationship in the past, she waited until a week after the rape to report it, they happened to meet in a bar that night and they both had a lot to drink – "

"So, what then? She deserved it?" Olivia's eyes flash dangerously. She's obviously spoiling for a fight, standing in the middle of the living room with her hands on her hips and glaring in Alex's general direction as if she were the rapist himself.

Alex sighs. "Of course not, but we didn't have anything more than his word against hers."

"How about all of her bruises? What about all her friends saying that every time she'd finally get away, he'd reel her right back in?"

Frustrated, Alex gets into Olivia's face. "What about their history of rough sex? The extensive collection of whips and floggers and other assorted accoutrements found in both of their apartments?"

Olivia points an angry finger into Alex's chest. "You're blaming the victim for not being perfect."

Alex throws her arms into the air in disbelief. "Witnesses saw her leave the bar with him willingly, Olivia. The jury couldn't see past all of it."

"It's your job to make them see. Isn't it, Counselor? You're just mad that your win/loss ratio took a hit."

Alex snorts inelegantly. "If I were that worried about my track record, I wouldn't still be working with this unit." There's a slight pause before she adds, "…and if you don't know me better than that by now, then what the hell are we doing here?"

When Olivia doesn't answer immediately, Alex turns away, intending to stalk toward the bedroom and slam the door closed to emphasize her point like the mature adult she is, but she doesn't get that far.

"Don't just – " is all Olivia manages to get out in response before her hand shoots out and catches Alex roughly by the wrist, yanking her backward.

The argument stops abruptly as they stand frozen in place, silently staring at each other. Alex watches the irritation in Olivia's expression give way to shock.

"Alex," she breathes, looking like she's going to be sick. "I – "

She drops Alex's arm and backs away from her before snatching up her coat and disappearing out the door without another word.

Alex blinks at the door, suddenly exhausted and wondering what in the hell just happened. A series of rough cases had left them all a little on edge lately, but Olivia seemed to be wound especially tight. Characteristically stubborn as ever, she had so far steadfastly refused to talk about it, insisting that Alex should leave it alone, I'm fine.

Even going into their argument, Alex had known somewhere in the back of her mind that it really wasn't about the lost case at all. By this point in her tenure, they've argued over the job plenty, but this marked the first time that she'd felt like Olivia had been deliberately trying to get a rise out of her. Since they excelled at pushing each other's buttons, she'd succeeded.

Alex lets an hour pass before she tries Olivia's phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. When another hour passes without any sign of her, Alex makes an educated guess and heads straight to Olivia's own apartment. She buzzes three times, intentionally making each buzz more drawn out and annoying than the last, before Olivia finally answers and allows her to come up.

The apartment door is unlocked, so she lets herself in and makes her way into the living room where she finds Olivia curled up on the end of her couch. She's wearing oversized sweats and has a small pile of used tissues in her lap. Her red-rimmed eyes make it clear she's been crying, and she looks so cozy and sad and pitiful that Alex wants to gather her up in a hug. Instead, immensely grateful that she had had the presence of mind to change into her own comfortable clothes before coming over, she drops her bag on the floor and settles onto the couch facing Olivia.

"So," she says conversationally, "you want to tell me what all that was about?"

"I don't know what happened," Olivia whispers soon enough. "I just wanted you to listen to me and then…," she swallows hard. "Alex, I didn't mean…..how can you even want to come after me?"

Alex pushes up the sleeve of her shirt and holds out her wrist for Olivia's inspection.

"Because I'm fine," she answers simply. "I don't think it's even going to bruise."

"But next time I could really hurt you," Olivia insists. "Maybe we shouldn't be doing," she gestures between them, "this."

"Next time?" Alex repeats, raising an incredulous eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that you were planning to manhandle me like that again."

"Jesus, Alex." Olivia huffs, wounded. "I'm not! That's not what I meant. I just…what if this," she gestures between them again, "isn't safe for you? What if I'm not safe for you?"

"What if this relationship isn't safe for me because you're…..what? Dangerous?"

Olivia nods solemnly from her side of the couch. "Violent."

Alex lets out a laugh of disbelief. "You're violent because you grabbed me once during the middle of an argument?"

"You're minimizing this," Olivia accuses.

"I'm not," Alex replies. "You are one of the least violent people I've ever known. In fact, based solely on what I've seen during my time with this unit in particular, Elliot is significantly more violent than you are."

Oliva snorts dismissively. "That's different."

"Why?" Alex challenges her. "Because he's a man? With all of that raging testosterone threatening to boil over at any opportunity?"

When she's met with silence, Alex sighs and tries another tactic.

"Olivia, look at me."

The instruction comes out sharper than she intended, but it works. She leans in close.

"When have you ever laid hands on another person with the specific intent to cause them harm?"

When Olivia opens her mouth immediately, Alex cuts her off.

"And I don't mean in self-defense or in what is generally considered an appropriate level of aggression for your job."

There's a pause before she drops her voice lower.

"And I sure as hell don't mean consensual harm either."

The ghost of a smile passes over Olivia's features before her troubled expression returns. "But obviously it could still happen, though. You saw it. We argue all the time, we get under each other's skin." Olivia's cheeks flush with embarrassment. "I guess I thought I could prove to myself it wasn't true."

Alex takes Olivia's hand and brings it to her lips, brushing a kiss across her knuckles. She laces their fingers together and rests their joined hands in her lap.

"Liv," she says gently, "what is this really about? I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

Olivia's eyes fill with tears again and she pulls away from Alex's touch before rising to her feet. She paces back and forth in front of the couch, her body tense as she anxiously twists at one of the rings she's wearing. Then, taking a deep breath, she suddenly stops and turns toward Alex again.

"Do you remember Darrell Guan?"

It doesn't take Alex long to place the name. "The 'don't blame me, blame my bad DNA' guy?"

Olivia nods. "I'm him. My mom was raped. She got pregnant and had me. Only she couldn't deal with the constant reminder, so she drank. A lot. And we fought. A lot."

She shrugs and wipes away a tear. "So, yeah. I'm half rapist and half drunk. I inherited it. Darrell Guan inherited the gene that made him violent, and he turned into a rapist just like his dad. What if I have it too?"

She's staring directly into Alex's eyes as if she's daring her to try to dismiss her fears with some sort of patronizing platitude. Alex doesn't take the bait.

"I had a boyfriend during my last year of undergrad who didn't like that I consistently outperformed him," she says instead. "I don't know what was written in his DNA, but I do know that he chose to be a dick about it and cracked me across the jaw for having a higher GPA. He chose to make insulting remarks about all the creative and demeaning ways that I must have earned that GPA other than schoolwork. He chose to put his fist through the wall next to my head after I offered to help him prepare for exams."

She notices Olivia wince before continuing.

"So, let's say you do have a gene and that means you're slightly more predisposed to aggression than the average person. Fine. So what?"

"Alex," Olivia says weakly. She drops back down onto the couch and eyes her warily.

"I mean it. Darrell Guan's DNA and upbringing may not have done him any favors, but it was his own choices that put him in jail. Your choices put you where you are now. You make a choice, every day, to help the people who survive the Darrell Guans of the world. You don't choose to hurt people, Olivia. You choose to help them heal."

Olivia is crying again by the time Alex is done, and she wipes at her eyes with yet another tissue.

"That's how you see me?" she asks in a small voice that damn near breaks Alex's heart.

"It is." Alex tells her honestly, "The way you manage to get people to open up to you is nothing short of extraordinary. You make them feel safe. You make me feel safe."

Olivia still doesn't look quite convinced, so Alex reaches out and gently pulls her into her arms. "You're more than just the sum of your parts; do you hear me? You are your own person, and you're not defined by where you came from."

Olivia doesn't answer, merely changes position so that she's leaning back against Alex's chest. Alex ducks her head so that her lips are closer to the shell of Olivia's ear.

"You are kind and patient and gentle, and I love you for it," she continues, her tone softening. "I wish you could see yourself as everyone else sees you."

After a few more moments of silence, Alex senses that Olivia may be a little overwhelmed with all the praise being heaped upon her, so she nuzzles against the warm curve of Olivia's neck and presses a kiss to her collarbone.

"You have your flaws, of course, but we'll focus on those later."

She grins to herself when Olivia lets out an unexpected bark of laughter and turns her head to return the kiss.

"There's so much ground to cover," she retorts playfully, an undercurrent of self-doubt still present in her words.

"Nah," Alex says affectionately, threading her fingers through Olivia's hair and scratching skillfully at her scalp. "Not nearly so much as you think."

Pleased with this new sensation, Olivia stretches like a cat, then relaxes, allowing herself to melt comfortably into Alex's warmth. She gathers Alex's other hand into her lap and turns it over, inspecting the area she'd grabbed hold of earlier in the evening.

"I'm sorry," she says softly, drawing her thumb gently across the fine bones of Alex's wrist.

"I know."

"It won't happen again."

"I know," Alex repeats without hesitation.

Olivia turns to look up at her, surprised at both the immediacy and certainty of her response. "How?"

"Two things," Alex shrugs. "You chose," she couldn't help but to point out that word again, "to remove yourself from the situation rather than run the risk of it getting any worse."

"And?"

"The look on your face in the moment. It told me everything I needed to know."

Olivia nods thoughtfully.

"Alex?"

"Mmhmm?" she hums in response.

"Thank you."

"For?"

"Listening," Olivia answers simply.

Alex tries not to focus on the implications of Olivia finding it necessary to thank her for something as natural as attempting to soothe her fears. She drops a line of kisses across the slope of Olivia's shoulder.

"My pleasure, sweetheart."