Disclaimer: As you all know, these characters aren't mine. They belong to Dick Wolf and NBC.

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Day 18: "I'm pretending to be your BFF because you look very uncomfortable with that person at the bar hitting on you."

Universe: Present Day

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Her grip on her glass grows steadily tighter the longer the man sits next to her. She glances at the watch on her wrist every few minutes, hoping the man will get the hint but he doesn't – he just keeps rambling on, even after she has angled her body away from him.

From her spot at the end of the bar, Officer Olivia Benson watches this less-than-pleasant exchange. She drains the last of her beer from the bottle, adjusts her jacket so the badge on her belt is easy to see, and saunters over to where the woman is sitting.

Resting her arm on the back of the woman's chair, she smiles widely. "Hey," she says, leaning in close to the woman. "Play along," she whispers, sure the man can't hear her. She straightens back up and says, "I'm so glad to see you!"

The woman grins up at Olivia. "Likewise!" And then, looking back at the man, she says, "Mark, this is…"

Olivia smiles politely, stepping in to save the woman. "Olivia," she says. "Officer Olivia Benson." She sticks her hand out for the man to shake, but he just gives her an uneasy smile. She turns back to the woman with a wink. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I thought I would've wrapped things up at the precinct a bit earlier than I did."

The woman shakes her head. "It's quite alright," she says.

Olivia nods. "Are you ready to go? Our reservations are for seven."

The woman smiles, standing and grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair. She nods at the man sitting next to her. "It was nice meeting you, Mark."

Olivia nods in his direction, allowing the woman to walk in front of her as they exit the bar. Once they get outside, Olivia leads her over to her cruiser. They lean against the car, staring awkwardly at each other for a solid minute.

"I'm Alex," the woman says.

Olivia chuckles. "Olivia."

"So you weren't lying about being a cop."

"Nope. That's my real name and my real profession."

Alex nods. "Thanks for…that," she says.

Olivia shrugs. "Not a problem. You looked awfully uncomfortable, figured I'd lend a hand."

"A real-life friendly, neighborhood police officer."

Olivia laughs. "Somethin' like that," she says. "Can I, uh, offer you a ride home, Alex?"

Alex looks at Olivia, assessing her. Then she smiles. "Is this your usual way to pick up girls, Officer Benson – find helpless ones at bars and then charm your way into their beds?"

Olivia shakes her head, laughing. "You wish."

The ride to Alex's apartment is filled with inane conversation, and when they stop outside her building Alex finds herself not looking forward to leaving. "Well," she says, "this is it."

Olivia nods. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Alex."

Alex smiles. "Likewise. Maybe we could…do it again sometime?"

"Yeah," Olivia says, grabbing a slip of paper from the center console. She scribbles her number on it and hands it to Alex. "Gimme a call sometime."

Once Alex gets inside her apartment, she pulls out her phone and dials Olivia's number. Olivia answers on the first ring. "Benson."

"Hey," Alex says.

"Hey yourself."

"I'm free tonight if you wanna grab dinner."

"Yeah?" Olivia says. "I can be there in a couple minutes."

"Great," Alex says, smiling. "I look forward to seeing you."

Olivia grins. "Likewise."

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