Disclaimer: If you've seen them on the show, they aren't mine. They belong to Dick Wolf. I'm just borrowing them.

Allow me a bit of poetic license here; I'm kind of rearranging some of the events of Guilt for the purposes of the story.

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Alex is lying on the bed, her head resting on her boyfriend's shoulder. His arms are wrapped protectively around her, and although the tight embrace would generally make Alex feel safer, it makes her feel slightly uneasy. Yet she curls into him anyway, resting her arm on his stomach and exhaling deeply.

She squeezes her eyes shut and grimaces as her cell phone starts to ring. "Mmm," moans Michael. "Get that, Lex."

He lets go of her and she sits up, flipping open her phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Alex," says Olivia's gentle voice. "How are you feeling?"

Groaning inwardly, Alex replies, "Not too hot." She knows she has to go with the lie. God help her if Olivia finds out the truth.

"Are you going to come in tomorrow?"

Alex hesitates, not wanting to make any promises she isn't 100% sure she can keep. "Maybe."

"Well, Alex, I'm sorry to bug you if you're not feeling well, but we need a warrant to search Sam Cavanaugh's house."

"Why?"

"We found one of his former victims, who told us about sex tapes that Barnett sent to each of his victims. I'm sure he sent them to Sam, too, and we need a warrant to search the place."

Alex sighs. More than anything, she wants to convict Roy Barnett. But how can she do that when Michael won't let her out of the house? "I'll try to get it tomorrow," she hedges.

"Okay," agrees Olivia. "Thanks. Hey, if you're not feeling so well, do you want me to come over for a bit?"

The ADA's pulse quickens. Whoever says lawyers are good liars is very wrong when it comes to Alex Cabot. "Um, no, that's okay. I don't want to get you sick. But thanks anyway, Liv."

She hears Olivia's audible sigh on the other end of the phone and crosses her fingers, praying that the detective won't press the issue. Thankfully, Olivia doesn't, just says, "Okay, Alex. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Bye, Liv."

Alex hangs up the phone and closes her eyes, taking a moment to compose herself. With a heavy heart, she switches off her cell, not wanting to talk to Olivia right now. No; actually, Olivia is the one and only person she does want to talk to right now. She wants to talk to Olivia so badly that she has to distance herself from the detective, afraid that her icy façade will slip and Olivia will get too close. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if Olivia found out the truth. Olivia is always so strong, so independent, always able to take care of herself and everyone else. The two of them are best friends and the side that Alex has shown her is just as cool and collected. Olivia naturally expects the ADA to be just as strong and independent as she is, and Alex used to be able to portray that with little to no difficulty, but now it's a lot harder.

Still, Alex will never show the detective any sign of weakness. It would be awful to be a victim, but the worst thing would be the pity. She couldn't stand it if Olivia felt sorry for her. It would be the most humiliating thing in the world and she wouldn't be able to bear it.

"Who was that?" asks Michael in the soft, dangerous voice that makes Alex jump, immediately on her guard.

"Um, Olivia. She needs me to get a warrant for her." Seeing the displeasure on Michael's face, she adds hastily, "But it can wait until tomorrow."

Her boyfriend nods approvingly and pats the bed next to him. "Want to come back to lie with me?"

Alex nods and climbs back into the bed. Taking a deep breath, she rests her head on Michael's chest, then exhales. "I love you," she murmurs as he runs his fingers through her hair. She loves it when he's tender like this. It almost makes up for the other times. Almost.

"I love you, too, babe," he whispers, continuing to his fingers through her silky tresses.

She wriggles closer to him, trying to get more comfortable, and closes her eyes in satisfaction. Right now, she's perfectly happy to be here with her boyfriend, her head on his chest as he gently rubs her back. This affectionate, loving Michael is the one she wishes showed himself more often.

* * *

Hanging up her cell phone, Olivia turns to Elliot and sighs. "She says she'll get the warrant for us tomorrow."

Elliot raises an eyebrow. "Wow. She must be on the brink of death. Why don't we stop by and say hello?"

Olivia shakes her head. "She doesn't want us to."

He rolls his eyes. "Oh, Alex. Always wanting to be so independent." He winks at Olivia. "I don't know anyone else quite like that."

She giggles and swats his arm. "Stop it."

* * *

Alex lays in bed for another couple hours with her boyfriend, wishing this feeling of serenity would last forever. Then Michael rolls onto his side and says, "You know what I feel like for dinner?"

"What?" she asks.

"Veal scaloppini. Doesn't that sound good?"

Alex nods and climbs out of the bed. Pulling on a bathrobe, she starts for the kitchen. "I'll start dinner now."

"Thanks, babe," drawls Michael, flopping his head back down on the pillow as Alex pulls out the ingredients for their dinner.

* * *

By 8:00, Olivia and Elliot are ready to leave. "You know what, Liv? Why don't you go check on Alex, just make sure she's okay? I'm worried about her."

"Me, too," Olivia admits. "But she'll be pissed off."

He rolls his eyes. "I think you can handle her wrath."

* * *

The doorbell rings two hours later. Alex is cleaning up from dinner and Michael is on the computer. "Would you get that, Lex?" he calls to her.

She hesitates. She doesn't want anyone, even if it's just a stranger, to see her like this. In her flimsy bathrobe, she feels so exposed, uncomfortable in her own skin. But she glances at the door in apprehension before opening it.

Olivia is standing in the doorway, staring at her. No, not at her. At the bruises on her face that she hasn't hidden with foundation today. At the marks that cover each exposed area of skin – a rainbow of marks coating her arms, her legs, her face. Catching Olivia's look, she wraps her bathrobe more tightly around herself. "Hi, Liv," she whispers, not even bothering to tell Olivia that she shouldn't have come. Her goose is cooked and she knows it.

Olivia arches an eyebrow. "You don't look sick."

Actually, she probably does look sick, but not by Olivia's standards. Her face is white as a sheet and she's shivering in trepidation, but neither her nor her colleagues ever stay home unless they are so violently ill that they have to be hospitalized.

Alex shifts uncomfortably, trying to evade her friend's concern. "So I played hooky."

The detective snickers. "You played hooky? That's not like you, Alex." Her eyes are expressing a multitude of emotions all at once, but the first one that Alex recognizes is concern. "Especially on a case as important as this."

She shrugs nervously. "I'll see you tomorrow, Liv, okay?" She starts to close the door, but there's a look of determination on Olivia's face, the stubbornness that they share, as she puts her hand against the doorway to stop Alex from closing it on her.

"Alex, what happened to your face?" She gestures to the bruises.

"Nothing," says Alex quickly. "Nothing. Just, please go."

"Lex," calls Michael from his office. "Who is it?"

Alex flinches and it isn't lost on Olivia as she calls, "It's Olivia."

In an instant, Michael appears in the doorway. "Hey, Olivia," says Michael casually, wrapping an arm around Alex. "Long time, no see."

She fixes him with an icy glare and turns back to Alex, realizing that she's not going to get anywhere with Michael here. So she looks right into the ADA's eyes and says very deliberately, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Alex?"

Alex nods in relief. "Sure. Bye, Liv."

She and Michael watch Olivia turn and plods down the hallway. Alex bites back a smirk at the fact that Olivia's swagger seems to go with her police officer persona and when no one else's around, she walks and talks and even generally acts like a normal person.

The second Olivia fades from their view, Michael's face contorts. He pulls Alex back into the apartment, bolts the door, and lays into her.

She goes limp and doesn't fight back, even though it's going to be tough to hide the bruises from Olivia's watchful eyes. This one, she brought on herself.

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