AN: Here's the finally finished 4th Chapter. Thanks to those of you who have read/reviewed. Cheers again to Mashnut for ensuring the course I'm steering with this is all plausible and character correct. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter started/finished soon but can't promise anything cos school's manic and I'm not well :(

Aim Higher Chapter 4

'Please tell me you're joking!'

Olivia didn't want to raise her voice but she couldn't believe her ears, her former partner had lost her mind if she'd done something so stupid and the fact that she could do it made her furious.

'It ain't as bad as it sounds…'

'Are you stoned or stupid? How can it be any worse than this?'

Olivia still had her hands on her friend's shoulders and she was glaring into her eyes now. She didn't think she could keep her temper in check for long; it was taking all of her strength to not slug Jo Poliniaczek in the mouth for her stupidity.

'Look I really screwed up…but I swear I never mentioned Blair by name…'

'I'm listening…' Liv was doing everything possible to keep her cool.

Jo took a deep breath as she tried to find the words to explain how it had happened; it had all been part of her plan to get closer to Evie Foley. They had something in common, an absent lover or at least that's how she had made it appear. In reality much as Jo wished it weren't the case Blair was, simply put, one of her closest friends. The fact that Jo had been in love with her since she was a teenager at Eastland simply made it easier to sell the story. In undercover work it always paid to have some sort of common ground with one of the key players - and Evie Foley was a key player – she could get Jo accepted quickly. That's all there was to it and Jo thought she knew how to handle it, after all it wasn't her first stint under. She had fed Evie a line about how she and Blair, whom she was extremely careful never to name, had been secretly in love forever. She played on the woman's sympathies spinning a tall tale about how Society would never accept the pair because of Jo's background, because of the nature of their love, because they were women. It was a pretty convincing story and Evie had bought it pretty easily, it wasn't the kind of story that someone in her situation would have made up. It didn't do to be known as 'out and proud' in the underworld unless you were a 'made' man, or in Jo's case a 'made woman'. It had been the perfect confidence trick to become Evie's confidante. All Jo had had to do was feed her a few lines and listen to her talk about her 'forbidden' love affair with Cassidy, forbidden because Cassidy was yet to prove himself in the eyes of Foley and Russo, no one had any idea who he really was and that had worked to Jo's advantage as she spun her tales. It was a piece of cake and it had worked like a charm.

'I never mentioned her by name… I alluded to her as my secret lover… Evie doesn't know who she is…'

'Cassidy does…'

'I never mentioned her name…' Jo was sounded desperate.

'Cassidy isn't an idiot Polniaczek. With enough details…'

'I know…What the hell am I gonna do?'

Jo was trying desperately not to break down completely. It wasn't meant to be like this, when you went under you did what you had to. It was easier to sell little pieces of half-truths, easier to remember at any rate. If Cassidy had never appeared back on the scene then no one would have been any the wiser. Jo could have kept feeding her empathetic lines to Evie and she in return would have taken her closer into her confidence. It had been a good plan. Then Jo had gotten careless, instead of alluding to some unknown secret lover as she had originally intended, she had started talking about her real feelings for Blair. Not mentioning her name didn't make a difference anymore because the feelings she described were real on her part, all she had wanted was to be able to talk to someone who didn't know her about what it was like to really love someone you couldn't be with. Being under had given her a lot more time to think than she had anticipated. She hated that, it had made her careless. Everyone always thought that being undercover was exciting – full of car chases, gun fights and opium dens but in reality it was mostly hanging around listening to people's bull and trying to remember your own cover stories, your own lies. Yet despite her carelessness she doubted whether it would have come back to bite her if it weren't for Cassidy. After what had happened Evie would tell him everything she had said and he would tell Foley and Russo. It was that simple. It was that complicated.

'Blair'll be safe as long as she's in Europe…' Liv abandoned her angry tones; her friend was doing enough to berate herself for now.

'Yeah…I gotta make sure she stays put for now. Until I can get Foley and Russo…'

'How you gonna do that? Last I checked Blair Warner did whatever she wanted. Regardless of the warnings of her friends…'

Liv was standing now, having released her friend from their partial embrace. She was leaning over the wall again, Staring down once more at the traffic, her back to Jo. Jo stood and joined her in her careful observation. They didn't know how to fix the mess that she had created, but they knew that they had to and fast…before Blair was back in the city.

'She won't listen to me but she might listen to you Liv…'

'No way she will. She might listen to Alex though…'

...

Eliot was starting to get antsy when they finally returned; neither said a thing and he was no fool. Liv would tell him later, when the two of them were alone. He respected their privacy for now – they were his friends and they deserved that. He could tell that there had been some rumble or other out there, it was written on their faces but they both seemed much calmer than when Jo had stormed off so he didn't press them. He sat filling in paperwork and waited. Olivia sat in her usual seat and began sifting through the files again, Jo also sat down but she seemed increasingly distracted and was fidgeting with the sleeve of her collarless white shirt. It was getting close to quitting time and Eliot had his son's game to get to. If the perverts and criminal masterminds kept things cool tonight he might even make it in time for the second quarter. He was saved the bother of trying to start any kind of conversation with either woman when a familiar, smooth voice behind him drew their attention.

'Liv, baby are you about ready to go?'

Alex Cabot spoke from the doorway of the office, she was dressed in a charcoal grey skirt suit with a blue silk blouse, and her heels clicked alluringly as she walked towards her lover and then perched on the edge of her desk. Almost instantly Olivia was around the desk pulling Alex into a soft, much welcomed hug. It was then that Alex realised someone else was sitting at Olivia's desk.

'Jo…'

'How ya bin Spitfire?'

'I wish you'd stop calling me that…' Alex chuckled

'Eh…everyone's gotta have a nickname…' Jo shrugged, placing her feet on the desk and leaning back in her chair.

Olivia had to laugh at that. Jo had always called Alex 'Spitfire'. From the moment they had met at a mutual friend's party a couple of years ago the name had simply come to her. She said it was because Alex reminded her of someone from a movie she had once seen. Olivia assumed it was a compliment but had never really asked Jo about it. It hadn't really mattered since Alex had always given as good as she got.

'Well Houdini… I owe you thanks.'

'You do?' Jo was confused now and she couldn't hide it.

'I do. Who'd have thought all those parties spent 'escaping' from handcuffs would actually pay off for a cop…'

This time Jo was the one who chuckled. Despite the guilt and downright panic she had felt rising in her chest since her conversation with Liv she couldn't help but laugh at the irony of what she was hearing. She turned to Liv who was shaking her head.

'I told ya you wouldn't regret it…'

Now it was Liv's turn to shrug before shoving Jo's feet off of her desk. The move almost sent Jo off balance but she managed to steady herself before losing it completely instead spinning her chair in an 'I meant to do that' fashion.

'Is it OK if we have a guest to dinner babe?'

Alex looked to her lover and being unable to deny her anything simply nodded her acquiescence. It wasn't like they were going to get to spend much time alone tonight anyway. Serena was going to be coming over before they all headed up to see Abbie at the hospital.

'Don't worry about me Benson – I got some crap I gotta take care of…'

'You've gotta eat Polniaczek. Besides we have a lot to discuss…'

Alex raised a delicate eyebrow at that but remained silent. She could tell there was something going on between the two but she wasn't about to guess what it was. Now wasn't the time, she knew that when Liv and her friends got together sometimes it was better not to ask questions. Especially where Jo or Abbie were concerned. Liv called to Cragen to let him know she was heading out, then said goodbye to Eliot before grabbing her jacket and taking Alex' hand, heading out the door. Jo shrugged on her own jacket, grabbed her helmet, and took this as her cue to follow but not before winking at Eliot and grabbing the long forgotten parachute from under the desk.

'Hey Benson...'

Olivia and Alex, who were almost at the door when she shouted, swivelled around at Jo's booming Bronx tones.

'You forgot somethin…'

The look on Olivia's face when she saw the parachute in her friend's hands was nothing short of murderous. Eliot's hearty laugh could be heard throughout the building, as could Jo's. Alex did her best to suppress her own laughter but in the end even she couldn't contain herself.

'I repeat Polniaczek, you're a dead woman…'