Chapter 8
AN: Thank you for the support. I really hope you like this chapter. I honestly can't wait for you to read the NEXT chapter, so I am getting excited.
IMPORTANT: ALEX HELPS A CLINET IN THIS CHAPTER SO WARNING FOR DESCRIPTIONS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
July 10th 2020
About three weeks have passed since Oliva dropped by Vita Nova and saw Liz, Richard, and Kathleen Stabler for the first time in almost ten years. Since the first time Olivia stopped by, she has visited the Vita Nova offices multiple times, every time Liz, Antonio, and Alex are extremely glad to see her; and one time she visited Ken was in a meeting with Alex, so she got to see him too.
With every day that passes Alex is feeling a little stronger and because of that she is trying longer days at work, but she is aware that both Antonio and Liz are watching her carefully. Olivia also keeps checking in to make sure she is okay, and Alex suspects she's having Antonio and Liz watch out for her.
While Alex is in her office completing an email negotiation, where she got what she wanted, Liz is sitting at her desk working on some other matters, while Antonio isn't working. As she is working Liz hears the elevator doors open and a woman walk out. The second she sees the women, due to being surrounded by them for her entire life, Liz knows she is a cop before she sees the badge.
"Alex," Liz calls as she doesn't recognize the women, and she knows Alex likes to handle unknown cops on her own as they never know what to expect.
Hearing Liz's voice Alex presses send on the email she was writing, and she walks out into the main area of Vita Nova.
"May I help you Sergeant?" Alex asks, looking the women up and down, and recognizing what the badge on her belt means.
"Alex Cabot?" the women ask.
"Yes, and you are?" Alex asks, feeling a little curious as most people, even cops, if she has never met them before, ask for 'Alexandra Cabot' at the first instant.
"Phoebe Baker, Vice, I'm…" Phoebe starts to explain.
"Fin's girlfriend," Alex realizes. "It's really nice to meet you," Alex says.
"It's really nice to meet you too," Phoebe responds, as with some of the stories Fin and Olivia have told she has been looking forward to meeting Alex. "Can we talk? Fin suggested you might be able to help me with something," Phoebe explains.
"Of course," Alex says, and she leans Phoebe into her office. "What can I do for you, Sergeant Baker?" Alex asks as she walks over to her chair.
"Please, call me Phoebe," Phoebe requests as Alex sits down and Phoebe sits down across from her.
"Alex,"
"I work Vice, there is a women, Lori, I've arrested her multiple times for prostitution, and I always treat her fairly so she trusts me," Phoebe explains. "Yesterday we were talking, I was trying to understand why she keeps coming back even when it seems like she doesn't want to and she told me that her husband likes nice things and she wants to keep him happy; that's coercive control, and she didn't come out and say it, she won't, but think…." Phoebe starts to explain.
"There's violence," Alex realizes.
"I think so, but she won't admit it," Phoebe says. "Alex, she's young, has a young daughter. She didn't finish high school; I think she thinks this is her only option, I was hoping that you'd be able to show her that it's not, that she has help if she lets herself accept it," Phoebe explains.
"I'll talk to her," Alex says. "But in my experience, I'm only going to get one shot at this," Alex admits. "I'll need you to make the introduction, vouch for me, then let us be if she's comfortable enough. It's the best way to do this," Alex explains.
"You got it," Phoebe says, being impressed with Alex's whole attitude. "When do you want to do this?" Phoebe asks.
"Now, if you're free," Alex says, as she knows it's better to do this as soon as possible.
"Sure," Phoebe says and once she does both Phoebe and Alex stand up, Alex collects her stuff, and they both head out of Alex's office.
"I'll meet you by the elevator," Alex tells Phoebe, as she pauses at Liz's desk.
"Sure," Phoebe say, and she heads to the elevator.
"You're going out? Alex, you've had a long day already," Liz says, clearly concerned.
"I'm okay, Liz, this is something I have to do," Alex admits.
"Alex…" Liz starts to say.
"I feel okay," Alex assures her. "I'll be careful, and I'm with someone I can trust," Alex tells her, as she knows that both Fin and Olivia trust Phoebe which is enough for her.
"Okay," Liz says, even though she isn't sure that that that's a good idea. "Call if you need anything," Liz requests.
"I will," Alex says before heading to the elevator to meet Phoebe.
A little while after Alex and Phoebe left Vita Nova the two of them arrive at a park in Brooklyn. For the entire carried Alex and Phoebe get to know each other a bit better and they are both impressed with one another.
"Is she here?" Alex asks as she and Phoebe look around at the various people around the park.
"Yeah, the redhead standing by the taped off bench," Phoebe explains, pointing her out. "That's her daughter running around," Phoebe explains.
"What do you know about her daughter?" Alex asks as they walk towards Lori.
"She's five, her name's Cassie," Phoebe explains as they continue walking towards Lori.
"Lori," Phoebe says once they are closer to her, and she turns to see Alex and Phoebe.
"Phoebe? What are you doing here?" Lori asks.
"I wanted you to talk someone, this Alex Cabot," Phoebe introduces. "I think it's really important you talk to her," Phoebe explains.
"Are you a cop too?" Lori asks.
"No," Alex answers. "But I am in a position to help you," Alex explains.
"How?" Lori asks confused.
"Let's talk about that," Alex says, and she walks towards Lori, but still maintains social distancing.
"I'll give you two some space," Phoebe says. "Is that okay Lori?" Phoebe asks, and Lori nods.
Once she is sure that Lori is okay with Alex Phoebe gives them some space so that Alex can talk with her.
"What makes you think you can help me, Ms Cabot?" Lori asks.
"It's Alex," Alex gently corrects. "And I know I can help you because helping people who are in violent situations, or situations were they're being forced to do things they don't want to do, is what I do," Alex explains.
"I don't know what Phoebe told you, I'm…." Lori starts to say, but then it looks like she can't say the words.
"It's okay, you don't have to pretend," Alex assures her. "Lori, you don't deserve what's happening to you, you have the right to make your own choices," Alex explains.
"Why? I always make the wrong ones. Duncan loves me, he looks after us and I look after him," Lori tells Alex.
"Lori, do you think you make the wrong decisions or is that just what Duncan told you?" Alex asks.
"I… I don't know," Lori admits. "Duncan's been telling me what to do for a really long time, telling me that I'm not capable of making my own decisions, or decisions for Cassie," Lori admits. "And when I try to do differently…" Lori starts to say, before trailing off.
"He hurts you?" Alex asks as due to her experiences she can see what Lori is trying to hide, and Lori nods.
"Once so bad that I couldn't get out of bed for a week," Lori admits, as she avoids looking at Alex. "But no one would believe me," Lori explains, as her husband is respected and she's not.
"I do, I believe you, Lori," Alex assures her, and those words mean the world to Lori. "Cassie's seems like a really great kid," Alex tells her.
"She is, she's my world," Lori says.
"And I'm sure you want her to have the world," Alex says.
"Of course," Lori says, without hesitation.
"Lori children learn from what they observe," Alex says. "One day, maybe soon, maybe years from now, she's going to wonder what she deserves, if she deserves to be treated the way Duncan's treated you," Alex explains.
"I don't want that," Lori says, tears coming to her eyes. "But Duncan's never going to let me go, and he definitely won't let Cassie go. He'll keep her," Lori explains.
"You can fight him, fight for custody, I'm a lawyer I will help you," Alex tells Lori as she always offers the legal situation first, but she has a feeling that it is extremely far from a good one in this situation.
"I won't win! Alex, I have no proof, he has made sure of that. He's cut me off from everyone who used to know me!" Lori explains. "I'm a prostitute, he's a marketing exec, no judge will take my side over his," Lori says and Alex knows she's likely not. "I have to stay, I can't lose Cassie, I have no choice," Lori reveals.
"There is one more option," Alex tells Lori. "If you're sure you want to break free from Duncan's control, if you want a new life for you and Cassie, there is something you can do, and I can help you," Alex explains.
"I don't want this life anymore, I don't want Cassie to see this anymore," Lori admits.
"Okay," Alex says with a nod. "Then I need to go talk to Phoebe, and then we can talk about what happens next," Alex tells Lori as she can't do what she needs to do with a police officer standing a few feet away.
"Okay," Lori say and while Alex walks over to Phoebe Lori calls over Cassie.
"How'd it go?" Phoebe asks, feeling curious as from her distance it was hard to tell what was going on with Alex and Lori.
"We're making progress," Alex explains. "We're got some things to talk about, to work through and figure out, and we're going to be a while," Alex explains. "So, you can go if you'd like," Alex says as with what she is about to do it's better that there is a cop nowhere near them.
"Okay, if, you're sure. I should be getting back to the station," Phoebe admits. "Are you going to be okay to get back to your office?" Phoebe asks.
"I'll be fine," Alex assures her. "It was really nice to meet you," Alex says to Phoebe.
"It was really nice to meet you too," Phoebe responds, and she turns and walks away, Alex doing the same.
As Alex starts to walk back over to Lori and her daughter she pulls out her phone and sends a message to Liz saying, 'If you don't hear from me in 90 minutes you know what to do', and she isn't surprised when seconds later she gets a message back saying, 'Alex no! you've already pushed yourself too hard!' and so Alex sends back. "I'll be fine," even though she isn't sure about that, and she receives. "Fine. Be careful," back from Liz.
"Lori," Alex says, once she's walked over to Lori and Cassie. "I want to talk to you about the next steps, about your options," Alex explains, as there are several. "And I want you to know that everything that happens next is your choice. If you don't want to go through with this you tell me, if you don't want to do something you tell me, if things are moving too fast you tell me, you're in control here," Alex explains as in the years she has been doing this she knows that the best way to go about this is by giving the person she is trying to help all the control. She presents all the options and all the choices, gives all the support and help she can, but she lets the person who needs help decide which path they want to go down.
"Okay," Lori says, feeling a little afraid as it has been a long time since she has been in control.
"Okay," Alex says, and she starts to explain what the next steps can be.
Over the next couple of hours Alex explains the options for Lori and takes her to a secret halfway house where she can get counselling, support, legal advice, and guidance about what to happen next. From what Lori told her Alex suspects that Duncan won't come looking as it would raise too many questions, so Lori and Cassie should be able to start new lives, but if he does come looking, she will be safe until Alex can make other arrangements.
Having no idea that Alex has left the halfway house and is now struggling to walk due to being exhausted, Olivia is in her office with Kat, Fin, and Rollins discussing the latest case.
"Someone in that house has to talk," Olivia says, sounding annoyed.
"Under normal circumstances it would be hard to get them to talk, but with the job market being so volatile everyone's afraid to lose their jobs," Amanda explains.
"Great, we need something! We need to find a way to protect those kids!" Olivia says, sounding frustrated.
"We know, Liv," Fin says as Olivia's phone starts to ring. As soon as she sees that it is Alex on the caller ID Olivia hurries to answer it.
"Hey Alex, is this…" Olivia answers.
"Olivia," Alex says and the second she hears Alex's voice panic rises inside Olivia as she can hear that Alex sounds weak, that she doesn't sound okay.
"Alex? What's wrong?" Olivia asks worried and Fin and Rollins exchange looks while Kat just looks confused.
"I need a favor, can you come pick me up?" Alex asks, as considering how weak she feels, how much she is struggling, she doesn't think it would be a good idea to try and make it home, or to Vita Nova, alone.
"Where are you?" Olivia asks as she quickly picks up things on her desk and puts it in her bag.
"Sitting at an outdoor café," Alex answers as Olivia searches for her mask.
"Where?" Olivia asks, and Alex gives her the address as she picks up her bag. "I'll be right there, Alex, okay, stay where you are, I'll be right there," Olivia says, before running out of her office, putting on her mask as she goes, without another word to her squad.
"What was that about?" Kat asks confused, looking between Fin and Rollins. "Who's Alex?" Kat asks, as she has no idea who that is.
"Long story," Rollins and Fin say together, and honestly neither want to explain.
"Let's keep working the case, so we have something for Liv when she gets back," Fin says, feeling concerned about what's going on with Alex, but he knows that Olivia needs them to focus on the job, so that's what he is going to make sure he, Rollins, and Kat do.
For the entire car ride to where Alex is Olivia feels incredibly worried, worrying about what kind of shape Alex is going to be in when she gets to where she is. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Olivia gets to the outdoor café where Alex said she is, looking around Olivia sees Alex and so she hurries over to her.
"Alex," Olivia says, and as she gets closer to Alex Olivia says that she looks exhausted and even paler than usual.
"Olivia," Alex greats, and Olivia squats down in front of her.
"Alex? What happened?" Olivia asks worried. "Are you okay?" Olivia asks, looking Alex up and down as she puts her hand on Alex's leg.
"I'm okay… I pushed myself to hard," Alex tells Olivia. "But I had to," Alex explains.
"Right," Olivia says, knowing that Alex believes that even if it isn't strictly the truth.
"I wasn't sure it was a good idea to try and get back to Vita Nova alone," Alex explains.
"It's not, and you're not going back to work, I'm taking you home," Olivia explains, as she is sure that Alex is in no state to work.
"Okay," Alex says, feeling too exhausted to fight.
"Do you think you can stand?" Olivia asks as she stands up.
"I don't know," Alex admits.
"Okay, I'll help," Olivia says, and she helps Alex stand up and to the car. Once Alex is in the passenger seat Olivia walks around to the drivers side.
"Ally, maybe I should take you to your doctor," Olivia says as she gets into her seat, as she isn't sure that Alex being so exhausted is normal.
"No, it's okay," Alex says.
"Alex…." Olivia starts to say.
"No one knows the long-term effects of Covid," Alex admits. "It's too new, Doctors are trying to figure it out," Alex explains, as Olivia starts to drive. "It's suspected that exhaustion is one of the side effects that might last for a while," Alex explains as her eyes flicker open and closed. "I just need to sleep," Alex explains.
"Okay," Olivia says, not liking the sound of that as she really thought Alex was out of the woods. "What were you doing?" Olivia asks, even though she has a suspicion.
"Helping someone," Alex says, as she leans her head against the door.
"Right," Olivia says, realizing that she is likely not going to get even more answers out of Alex.
"I met Phoebe," Alex explains.
"Fin's Phoebe?" Olivia asks surprised.
"Yeah, she seems great," Alex admits.
"She is," Olivia confirms.
"She had someone she wanted me to talk to," Alex explains.
"Is that what you were doing, just talking?" Olivia asks, and despite how exhausted she is Alex gives Olivia a look.
"Right, not just talking," Olivia realizes. "You can't keep pushing yourself too hard Ally, that won't end well for you or the people you're trying to help," Olivia tells her, wanting Alex to see that if she doesn't look after herself not only will it not be good for her but it won't be food for the people she is trying to help as that may actually get through to her.
"I know, I thought I was okay," Alex admits, her eyes staying close, as Olivia continues to drive.
A little while after Olivia picked up Alex the two of them, Alex leaning on Olivia as she can barely walk, are walking into Alex's apartment.
"I'll be okay on the couch," Alex says as they enter the apartment, and Alex just drops her handbag on the table near the door.
"No, you need to go to bed," Olivia says as she helps Alex towards the bedroom and if Alex was feeling stronger there are multiple comments that she would make.
"Okay," Alex says, and she allows Olivia to lead her to her room. Once they are in the bedroom Olivia helps Alex over to the bed and helps her to sit down.
"I'll message Liz and Antonio so they know where you are and what's going on," Olivia informs Alex as she knows that the two of them will likely worry.
"Thank you," Alex says as she kicks off her shoes. "I mean it Liv, thank you," Alex says gratefully as she lays down, not even caring that she is in her very expensive suit.
"It's okay," Olivia tells her as she helps Alex cover herself in the blanket. "I'll make you something to eat and leave it in the fridge for when you wake up," Olivia explains.
"You don't have to do that," Alex says as Olivia sits down on the edge of the bed.
"I want to," Olivia says. "You look after everyone in your life, strangers, you deserve to have someone look after you," Olivia says, as she pushes Alex's hair out of her face.
"You do too," Alex tells her.
"Get some sleep Ally. I'll leave a note when I leave," Olivia assures her, before standing up and heading to the door.
"Liv," Alex says and she turns back around. "I wish I didn't stay away for so long, that I wasn't so afraid," Alex admits.
"I wish that too," Olivia says, before heading out of Alex's room, leaving the door open a little so that she can hear if Alex needs her.
For the next little while Olivia makes Alex some food so that she has something to eat when she gets back, and she grabs Alex's cell out of her bag and plugs it into the charger next to her bed and she leaves a note right by the phone. Once she is sure that Alex has what she needs Olivia heads out, making sure to lock the door behind her.
The next morning, due to leaving early the day before, Olivia heads into the station early, and she isn't overly surprised when she finds Fin already at his desk.
"Hey Cap," Fin greats.
"Hey Fin," Olivia greats. "Look, I'm sorry about yesterday," Olivia admits.
"it's all good, how's Alex?" Fin asks concerned.
"Stubborn, determined to help, doesn't know her own limits," Olivia comments.
"Sounds familiar," Fin comments, and Olivia just gives him an annoyed look. "Look, um, Phoebe told me last night that she went to Alex for help," Fin explains, not sure how Olivia is going to react.
"I know," Olivia says.
"She said that last time she saw Alex she was in a park in Brooklyn and seemed fine," Fin explains.
"It's okay Fin, I'm not mad at Phoebe," Olivia assures her. "She needed Alex's kind of help and Alex being Alex did what she does without thinking about her own health," Olivia explains.
"Sounds about right," Fin says. "Have you spoken to her today?" Fin asks curious, as Olivia's phone starts to ring.
"Not yet, but I will now," Olivia says. "Hey, how you feeling?" Olivia asks, answering her phone.
"Okay, stronger," Alex answers, as Olivia heads to her own office. "Liv, thank you, for yesterday. I really appreciate it," Alex admits.
"It's okay, I know you'd do the same for me," Olivia admits.
"I would," Alex confirms.
"Has this made you realize that you need to take things slowly?" Olivia asks, and she can practically hear Alex roll her eyes.
"It means that I'll try where I can," Alex admits.
"Good," Olivia says, relieved.
"I'll let you go, I know you have work to do," Alex tells Olivia.
"Yeah, I do, and I know you do to," Olivia admits. "I'll talk to you later,"
"Yeah, bye Liv,"
"Bye Ally," Olivia responds and once she does she gets back to work.
