A/N: Hi! I hope everyone had a great holiday season! Thank you so much for all the reviews and comments—I am truly very lucky to have so many people that are reading and continuing to appreciate this story. We've got one more chapter until the one I think you guys are really looking forward to. Enjoy!

Chapter 79

Sources

The door to Serena's opened around 8:55 and Alex walked through, greeting Kayla.

"Hi Alex. How are you?" There was something about the hostess that Alex always noticed: she made everyone feel calm and welcome, and Alex was sure that's why Olivia hired her.

"I'm good, Kayla." Alex smiled at her and continued. "How are you? How's school?"

"It's good. Busy—trying to get my college applications finished."

Alex was surprised at her answer. "Well, it's only September. You've got a little while to finish them."

"Early decision."

"Ah! I see. They didn't have that around when I applied for my undergrad. That's what getting old will do to you." Alex smacked her head playfully. "But, that's exciting. I'm sure you'll get in wherever you apply." She paused as Kayla smiled radiantly back at her. "Hey, Olivia and I are meeting someone here—."

Kayla interrupted her, quietly pointing to the corner booth. "I think she's already here." The teen peered behind Alex, searching past the blonde attorney. "Is Olivia with you?"

"No. She and Elliot had to go out to Rikers. She should be here soon, though." Alex took a deep breath and crossed her fingers, displaying them to Kayla. "She said she'd be here right at 9 or a few minutes after. Let's hope so!" Kayla grimaced a bit at Alex's obvious uneasiness about being by herself. "Well, wish me luck!"

Alex caught her reflection in a mirror behind Kayla and pushed her hair back, tucking a piece of it behind her ear before she headed toward the booth where she saw the reporter recognize her and stand up in the aisle.

"Ms. Cabot, thank you for meeting with me." She extended her hand and Alex shook it firmly, sending a clear message about her intentions.

"Well, I wanted to speak with you about a few things, so it's no problem. Do you want a drink?" Alex stood up and examined the hundreds of bottles of red wine behind their booth before she found and opened her favorite, pouring herself a glass. Jo thought this was a little odd, until she remembered that Olivia Benson owned this restaurant and Alex probably had her free reign of anything she wanted to do.

"Yes, thank you." Alex poured her a glass and heard, at that moment, the most relieving sound she thought had ever graced her ears.

"You want an apron, or what?" Olivia had made her way through the small foyer and down one of the aisles in the restaurant, running a hand through her short hair. Alex let out a sigh of relief and turned to hug Olivia when she felt a whisper tickle down her side. "I'm here, Al. Everything's gonna be fine." She knew that she must have looked nervous. An uncontainable smile made its way across her face as she turned around and tilted the bottle toward Olivia, an unasked question on her lips. "Sure." Olivia slid into the booth and extended the only empty wine glass on the table her way.

The blonde stood at the end of the table and poured the wine into Olivia's glass. Jo watched as Alex Cabot's icy blue eyes focused not on the glass, but seemingly saw right over it, to detective Benson—the magnetism was undeniable. As Olivia took her glass back, Alex sat the bottle on the end of the table and slid in next to Olivia, sweeping her hair over her shoulder.

Jo watched as both women sat across from her, their heads a little cocked, seemingly waiting for her to start the conversation. She was nervous: she was essentially facing off with one of the most talented lawyers in Manhattan District Court, and the most decorated cop she had ever seen. Before she could think any more about it, detective Benson began to speak.

"So...uh..." her hand circled a bit in front of her as the reporter jumped in.

"Jo."

"Jo, right. Sorry. I know we have other stuff to talk about, but you said that you had an article to write about the opening of the restaurant?"

She was glad that the detective had taken it in this direction first. Jo nodded and opened her laptop. "Yes, and if you don't mind, I'd like to take notes on my laptop, if that's ok?"

"Sure." Olivia wasn't giving anything away: she was being kind, but also very closed off. Her demeanor was twofold; she wanted the restaurant to make a good story because it would be good for business, but, at the same time, she wanted to be a unified front with Alex about their other issue with the reporter.

"Ok. Thanks." Olivia could tell she was about to start asking questions, so she jumped in.

"I'm sorry—I'm starving. I'm going to order some food. Do you want anything? Alex?" At that moment, Olivia beckoned Lorenzo over as Alex nodded. Jo pulled her purse out from between her and the wall as Olivia handed her a menu. "He can make whatever—it's on the house." Lorenzo smiled at Alex.

"It's good to see you Ms. Cabot. It's been a while. I didn't get to come out and see very many people last night!"

"It was busy! It's great to see you too." She took a breath and asked him a question. "Hey, what's Kathy's? I saw it last night and it looked really good."

"Mrs. Stabler's dish is a penne pasta with asparagus, mushrooms, grape tomatoes and spinach in a white wine sauce." Alex nodded toward him as he smiled at her. "It's good."

Lorenzo's attention was turned to Olivia. "And, for the detective? The usual?"

"Nah, I don't think so. Gimme Elliot's, please." Lorenzo nodded and looked toward the unfamiliar woman across from them.

"Everything looks so good." Olivia and Alex couldn't help but exchange eye rolls with one another: they both knew she was trying to get on their good side, although, they would both agree about the selection of the food. "You know? I think I'll have detective Benson's usual!"

"Sounds great. Cooked medium? And is the spinach salad and mashed potatoes ok? If I remember correctly, that's how detective Benson orders it every time." It was good for a chuckle, Lorenzo noticed, as Jo agreed that everything sounded delicious. He left and Olivia started speaking.

"Sorry, I am just really hungry." Alex sipped her wine and silently remembered the discussion she had with her aunt Charlotte about swimmer's appetites. She smiled to herself and admired the woman sitting next to her as she traced her free hand under the table, finding Olivia's strong thigh.

"It's no problem. Thank you for the meal, I've been running all day." Olivia nodded and awaited her questions. "So, I guess I just want to start by asking about how you got involved with the restaurant business. How did this place come to be?"

"Well, I went to the police academy back in the mid 90's and I met a guy there that I became pretty good friends with. Shortly after we graduated I was placed in homicide and he was placed in another unit. Long story short, he decided police work wasn't really his thing, so he went back to school and became a chef. It had always been his dream to own a restaurant, and my mother knew the owners of this place, so things just fell into place and we went in together back in 2001."

"Interesting. So he's responsible for all of the meals and food creations and everything?"

"Yeah we split responsibilities pretty well, but I give him all the credit, seriously. He makes this place what it is. The only thing I do is review the menu and make sure the books look good." She paused. "Well, I mean, and renovate, but he helped with that too."

"Yeah, I meant to tell you, it looks great in here! I had been here once before a few years ago and it looks different—good different, I mean." She took a breath and approached a tough topic. "So, most people that are interested in this article have heard about the break in...how would you say that has affected the business overall?"

"Well, I mean it definitely sucked. But, I think it was useful for all of us to get away for a little bit, and the restaurant as a whole probably needed a little TLC too, so I guess it was a blessing in disguise...but, we're back up and open, and hopefully everything will be back to normal very soon."

"Ok. Sounds good. I want to talk about the diversity of your menu a little bit. Where did the Italian theme come from, and who are all the people in the menu?"

"Well, Serena's is named after my mother, and she loved Italian food—easy as that. All of the people on the menu are our friends or co-workers, and we have a few dishes named after some regular customers that come in here. But, it's cool to see people come in here and eat the meal that Max makes especially for them."

"They must love that." Olivia nodded. "Well, I think that's about it for this discussion—it's not a very long article, but I will definitely mail you a copy when it hits the press." Olivia nodded as Lorenzo brought out their dinners.

Alex took a sip of her wine and waited a beat before she spoke. "So," she picked her fork up and held it in her hand, "I think we should talk about what happened at the press conference. It's been a little while and everyone has had the time to cool down or whatever, and I want to talk about this with level heads." Jo nodded shyly.

"So, first, I want to know where you got your information." Alex wasn't tiptoeing around any issues.

Jo was cutting into her steak when she looked up at both of them. "Are you asking me to reveal my sources?"

Olivia picked her head up a little higher, chewing the colossal mound of food she had just shoveled into her mouth. Alex was as cool as a cucumber. "Yeah." She smiled a little bit. "Yeah, I am." Alex took a few pieces of pasta into her mouth and awaited Jo's answer with a smile.

"Is that really necess—?" Alex cut her off.

"You know what I think is funny? Is that last night you wanted to approach Olivia and discuss this very issue. And…it seemed like you'd do almost anything to get back in our good graces last night, but now, when I'm actually asking you a question, you want to hide behind this 'journalist' bullshit."

Olivia tried to keep food in her mouth as often as possible, her eyes growing ever wider. Alex was on fire, and she knew that the blonde would eventually get whatever information she wanted out of the reporter.

Jo looked down and rested her fork and knife on her plate. "This is a little more serious than just revealing a source. I'm a little worried that it will affect your work." She held her hand up, as she saw Alex starting to speak. "I'll tell you. But, I think you are both going to be really surprised."

Olivia furrowed her brow and swallowed the food that was in her mouth. "Wait, do we know them?" Alex waited in anticipation, looking between Olivia and Jo. The reporter had just taken a sip of wine and slowly nodded her head as she swallowed it.

A sudden wave of understanding sent a chill down Alex's spine. "Oh my god." Her eyes stared into a blank space ahead as she silently added everything up. "Holy shit."

"Alex? What? Who is it?" Olivia knew her eyes had to be bulging out of her head.

"Trevor." Alex and Olivia watched in disbelief as Jo nodded her head. "What a little fucker." Alex waited a second before she said anything else. "You know what, though? I shouldn't be surprised. This is exactly something he would do. So what? He was at his daddy's house in the Vineyard and just called the first reporter he knew?"

"Something like that." Jo smiled a bit as Alex rolled her eyes. "I should tell you, Trevor and I were friends at NYU during undergrad, but I think he's a fucking snake too. He said he was out at some bar or restaurant or something and saw you two walking in together."

"That bar by the ocean." Olivia realized when he must have seen them. "I remember that uh," she paused, a small smile pulling at her lips as she looked at Alex, "I kissed you in the parking lot, before we walked in." Alex smiled back at Olivia and laced her fingers in between the detective's, both of their hands resting on the booth in between them.

Jo watched this display and her heart instantly softened. Alex nodded and both women tore their eyes away from each other enough to look back at Jo, interested in the rest of the story. The reporter forgot why they were both looking at her for a second before she continued. "And, uh, he texted me and asked if I still wrote for NY magazine. I told him no, that I was writing for The Times, and he seemed happier about that. Finally he called me and told me what was going on. He wanted me to sit on it for a little while because he was sure that there was going to be some public event about the Carlson shooting and wanted to gauge you two when you got back to make sure he was right."

"What a little bitch." The words ripped from Olivia's mouth before she could stop herself. She had already finished her dinner, and couldn't continue to shove food into her mouth to preoccupy herself. Jo and Alex looked at each other and shared a mutual smile over her comment. She looked from one to the other and continued. "Seriously! Could you imagine, Alex, how much shit this could have caused for us if we hadn't disclosed our relationship when we did?" Alex saw a small, imperceptible, shift in Olivia's eyes when she asked this question.

Oh, she didn't have to imagine. Those few days after the press conference were probably the most difficult, and most unsure moments of her life, and she wouldn't ever forget it. Not wanting to give anything away, she answered as if everything Olivia just said was completely true. "Yeah…one of us probably would have gotten fired. Or, at the least, investigated."

Jo leaned in, lowering her voice. "It's really that serious?"

Alex finished her second glass of wine and poured another for herself as she answered. "Let me tell you a few things about the NYPD, and the DA's office." She paused, and then filled Jo's glass. "You'll need this." Olivia laughed and watched as Alex went into storyteller mode.

"Let's just say that there was a male vice detective and a female attorney working in the same precinct. Generally, there are 4 veteran detectives in each precinct and numerous junior detectives or patrol officers below them. But, let's just say that this detective and attorney enter into a relationship. Not only are they now working on almost every case together at work, but now they are also in a presumably intimate relationship."

"Because of the structure of these 'lead detectives,' they are generally the only ones that testify in court. You rarely have a patrol cop testify to anything, unless an arrest comes from being pulled over or something like that." Alex took a sip of her wine as Jo absorbed this information. Olivia knew that Alex was not only explaining how things actually worked, but was working her angle so Jo could see how much trouble being Trevor's pawn could have really caused. Silently, she sent a 'thank you' out into space for judge Donnelley, wherever she was, with whoever she was surely making cry at 9pm on a Wednesday night.

"So, one day, this male vice detective—we'll call him Jim—busts a drug dealer who was accused of murdering someone. Everything goes by the book, they arrive back at the precinct, and go on with their day. All the while, he is still in an undisclosed relationship with this woman," Alex searched for a name, "Kelly, who works for the DA in that very precinct. Now, let's say a month down the road there's a problem with evidence, which there often is. No matter what the two of them do, if they agree on this issue, and then it comes out later that they were in a relationship during this bust and subsequent trial, that guy could be let out of prison. His case could be dismissed because of misconduct." Jo's mouth dropped open. "Not to mention the detective would definitely get a rip in his jacket, possible suspension, and maybe even be dismissed altogether. The attorney would be sanctioned, disciplined, and probably suspended as well. Then, even after they came through all of that, the department would probably have to field 50+ motions from current prisoners that claim their trial was biased too because the lead detective and ADA were sleeping together and were in cahoots. And, to top it off, one of them would have to be transferred to another division." Jo listened carefully. She understood the general rules of dating in the workplace, but never really thought about how strict law enforcement would have to be with these issues.

Alex knew she had her, so she expanded on her thoughts. "So, to put it back into our situation, if we hadn't disclosed—which we did, but let's just say we didn't for argument's sake—one of us would have had to transfer. So, Olivia's been in the department for about 15 years and is one of the most decorated detective's in the entire NYPD, and I have a 94% closure rate and a 98% conviction rate. Not to toot our own horns, but I think it would be a serious disadvantage to the 16th precinct to have either of us gone…especially Olivia." Alex smiled at the detective. "And, honestly, that would probably be the least of our worries."

"Wow." Jo took a breath. "I had no idea." Alex sat back and curled her hand around her wine glass, cradling it close to her chest.

Olivia felt some sympathy for the reporter. She wasn't sure why, but something told her to be merciful, even though she wasn't exactly comfortable with that at the moment. "I understand where you were trying to go with this…but, when you have jobs like we do, your life isn't necessarily your own, anyways. And privacy? Forget about it."

"I um…" Jo paused and collected her thoughts. "I know I said it before, but I'm really, really sorry. I had no idea what kind of trouble it would have caused. I think that I was just trying to get a juicy story. I knew that it was going to cause a buzz, but I didn't know that you could lose your job or be transferred because of it. I feel horrible."

Olivia looked at Alex and saw the sympathetic look in those blue eyes. They didn't have to say anything to know how the other felt. Without a word, Alex looked back to Jo. "Well, I could have ripped your head off when you asked that question, but I understand. And, we both forgive you. But, I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't going to say anything to Trevor."

"Uh, yeah! Give him hell from me too. What an asshole."

"And, if you promise to stick to the work stuff if you're covering a story that involves us, I promise you that if anything ever comes up that you think would make a good story about…well, us?" Alex shook her head. "Wait, why would people be interested in us? This whole time I think this was the question I wasn't understanding."

"Really?" Jo laughed out loud and Olivia looked at Alex, a questioning look on her face. "Oh shit, you're serious." She took a breath and finished her wine. "Look, Ms. Cabot, everyone in the press is convinced you're going to run for office in the next year or two, and your success in the courtroom is in a league of its own. And, detective Benson, I'm not sure if you know or not, but you've got a pretty big following in the Village."

Olivia groaned. "Yes, I'm aware of that. Unfortunately." Alex cocked her eyebrow, laughing through her curiosity.

"Oh really?! What's that about?"

"I used to bartend a couple nights a week when I was in the academy and…well, Alex, you know how people are—."

"There's still a picture of you hanging up behind the bar at The Midnight." Jo jumped into the conversation, and Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Wow. You'll have to tell me more about that later." Alex's smile was uncontainable, so she paused and tried to even out her speech. "So, apparently we're hot shit, Liv!" All three women laughed and Alex continued her thought from before. "So, like I was saying, if you can keep our personal lives out of your work, if anything ever happens that I think the press wants to know, I'll make sure to tell you first. Deal?"

"Deal."

Ten minutes later Olivia and Alex walked out of Serena's hand in hand, Jo following closely behind. "Oh! I forgot!" Both women turned around before they reached the crosswalk. "I need a picture for the article. I'm sorry, detective Benson."

"It's ok. Give me one minute. You want it out here?" Jo nodded and Olivia went back inside.

Jo approached Alex as they waited for the detective. "Um, hey, I know you were mad at me during the press conference, and I know I said it in there, but I just really want to say I'm truly sorry. And, thank you for meeting with me and ironing this all out. I really appreciate it. It's obvious that you two are really good people...and great for each other." Alex started to respond when she saw Olivia emerging from the restaurant.

"Ok, we're ready! Alex, come on!" Olivia beckoned Alex over, but the attorney hesitated.

"Umm no way. I look like shit. You guys look good!" She watched as Max and Olivia stood with their arms around each other's shoulders. Lorenzo and Kayla knelt in front of them as they all smiled.

"Thank you all!" Jo snapped a few pictures and everyone went their own separate ways: Alex, Olivia, and Jo to the parking lot, and the rest back into the restaurant. Alex handed Olivia the keys as she grasped for the detective's hand, intertwining their fingers together. When they reached the parking lot, Jo said goodbye. "Well, thank you both for your honesty, and your understanding." She shook both of their hands, got in her Prius, and sped off.

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"Well, at least that went well." Olivia had just taken a shower and she crawled into bed, placing her glasses on her face as she grabbed her phone from off of her nightstand.

"Yeah. I think once she understood the gravity of the situation she knew how serious it all could have been. And, all that for a gossip story? Please." She paused as she watched Olivia check her phone. "And, who knew that we were so famous?" She batted her eyes and watched the detective look at her and grin.

"Well, you are the most beautiful woman in New York." Olivia typed out a quick message and locked her phone as she plugged it into the charger.

"Yeah, and apparently you're the patron saint of all the lesbians in the west Village!" Alex cackled as she took off her glasses and snuggled into Olivia's body.

"Oh, no." Olivia paused and began to laugh. "Not all of them, surely." She winked at Alex and the blonde's mouth fell open into a shocked smile. Olivia turned and took her glasses off, folding them and placing them on her nightstand. "But, it doesn't matter…I only have eyes for you."

Alex pulled Olivia close and kissed her. "Well, I am the most beautiful woman in New York, after all." They laughed, and Olivia drew Alex into her body, holding her as close as she could.

"I love you."

Alex could feel the wine pulling her into a hazy sleep. "I love you too, Liv. Goodnight."

Five minutes later, Olivia heard her phone buzz. She checked to make sure Alex was asleep before picking it up and checking her most recent text message conversation.

Hi Roger. Was just making sure everything is still good for tomorrow night.

Of course, Olivia. Sorry I haven't been in touch. I'll get reservations at 'The Eagle' at 5. Does that sound ok? Will that be enough time?

That sounds great. Should be, yes.

Wonderful. Also…should I be nervous about this?

No. I think I should be the nervous one…Well, on second thought, you might want to be nervous for your team. Yankees are gonna give them a beat down! See you tomorrow, Roger.