A/N: I make no profit off of this. All characters, except I think Tagamaura, belong to Mr. Wolf.
As I watched one of my best friends make her way past the other customers at the sandwich shop and exit, I couldn't help chuckling quietly to myself.
'Ah Alex. You never change!' I thought fondly to myself. 'How many times have my colleagues or myself been on the receiving end of that tone? Too often to count, especially Liv and myself. I thought, chuckling silently to myself.
"So she used to be your ADA over at SVU? What caused her to leave, so that the pain is still too unbearable to return?" Dani asked, breaking into my trip down memory lane. I could tell she hated Alex right off the bat, especially after how surprised Alex looked to see me partnered with someone outside of SVU. Motioning for her to join me in one of the booths, I told her
"Dani, there's still quite a bit about SVU that you know nothing about. Yes Alex Cabot was our ADA before Casey joined us, but she was also my best friend, next to Detective Benson." I couldn't say Olivia's name around Dani, it just felt like I was stabbing her in the back every time I did that, so I'd started referring to her as either Benson or Detective Benson when I was around Dani. "She not only put her job on the line for us constantly, she was suspended for her actions in one case, and had to go into Witness Protection for her work on another." I said thinking back to the Cavanaugh and Velez cases that made us realize how integral Alex had become to the Unit.
"She and Benson were, and are, the heart of the Unit. Alex and Benson are the caring sisters that every family has and can't really survive without. Unlike other squads, the SVU truly is a family and when that family loses such a crucial member, it affects each and every one of us." I say pausing to let Dani process what I'd just told her.
"So what you're saying is that once again I'm getting the cold shoulder because I'm not everyone's precious Olivia?" The way she said Liv's name made it sound like a curse, which, I guess to her it was since she had to fill in for her.
Sighing I continued,
"In Alex's eyes, yes. Another thing about the two of them was that they were closer than sisters. They were like two halves of the same coin. When Alex went into Witsec, it all but destroyed both of them. You may have heard rumors that Olivia was the guardian angel of the SVU, but Alex was the avenging angel. Both she and Benson were the ones victims would talk to, when neither Fin nor Munch nor I could get them to talk. Even now, Casey doesn't have that kind of relationship with squad and the victims. But that's due mainly to the fact that, thankfully we haven't had a case where she's had to do that. And I hope for Novak's sake that we don't."
"Are you saying that you don't think she could handle that kind of case?" Dani said incredulously.
"I think she would have a very difficult time. Also she is an outsider who never wanted to do Special Victims in the first place and while yes she has grown to be accepted at SVU, there still exists the knowledge that she never wanted the job in the first place. So there's always going to be resentment on our part for that, and she has come to understand that and to work with it, but not let it interfere with her work relationship with us."
"But Elliot that isn't fair! Not to either of us! Novak's hard work has paid off! Conviction rates are up among rape cases! You can't tell me that they were higher before Miss Cabot left! And as for Benson, she gets too emotionally involved in cases."
Noticing several of the occupants of neighboring tables staring at us, I lowered my voice, and said
"For the victims, it helps to know that each case will be treated as though it is the most important thing. Olivia and Alex knew that first hand! That's why they put the extra effort into these cases. We all have one case that keeps us here. It's what separates us from the people who come even temporarily, to fill in for one of us and is why so few can stay longer than two years, if that." I finish much quieter than I started. "C'mon, we need to get back to the courthouse." I said, standing and gathering my sandwich wrapper.
Dani sighed and gathered her wrapper, following me.
Upon entering the courthouse I was surprised to learn I needed to testify at the appeal Alex was handling while my temporary partner testified on our latest case.
The appeals case I was testifying in was one Liv and I had worked on several years ago involving a young man who had been molested by one of his teachers. It had also been one of the first ones Alex tried for the squad. Now it was to be one of Alex's first appeals cases.
"History has a funny way of repeating itself doesn't it detective?" Alex said by way of greeting.
"Yes it does counselor. Almost like old times isn't it?" I said with a sad smile, knowing she would immediately understand what I was referring to.
"If only Liv were here and I was trying the case Detective Beck is testifying in." she said sadly but with a hint of animosity regarding Dani and the case. "How do you deal with her, El? It took all I had to not smack her after she'd introduced herself. Things really have changed while I was gone haven't they?" Alex said, sounding weak and tired, almost on the verge of tears.
This was only something I'd seen in Alex three times before: when she'd gone into WPP, in the hospital during the Cavanaugh case, and in the hotel room when she came back to testify against Liam Connors.
"I mean you and Liv not partners anymore, and separated by who knows how much physical distance!"
"ALEX! Alex, look at me. Yes things have changed since you entered WPP, but some things have not, nor will they ever. This victim needs the Alex Cabot who gave everything she had to get justice for the victims and prevent it from happening to someone else. And even though it seems like "even when we win, we don't" we get to make it so that the victims don't' have to fear going to sleep at night or "hearing a door bang shut and wondering if it's him, if he's finally found them"' I said, turning her words spoken three years prior back around on her, and seeing her turning back into the Avenging Angel the victims sought out and wanted prosecuting their cases. Because they knew she would get justice for them, no matter what.
Pulling me to her in a quick, tight hug, she whispered,
"Thanks, El. You ready to put this asshole back where he belongs?"
"There's the prosecutor I remember from SVU! More than ready, Lex." I said quickly returning her hug, then following Alex into the courtroom.
