Pink Petals, Painted Red
Chapter 3

Being called to the prison because something had happened to the perp wasn't unusual. There'd often be a time where the perp would kill themselves, a cell mate decided to make them a victim. The situations varied, but they were all the same for the most part. Her and another detective would be called to the scene, as well as whatever prosecutor they'd been working with.

She'd made these trips with Alex often, back when they were co-workers. Olivia could remember the first time Alex was called to the jail like this. It was mid-trial, and the bastard had brutally raped and murdered for women. But he was sloppy about it. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Alex would get the conviction she wanted. Olivia remembered how much Alex wanted to crucify this guy. She'd stick the needle in his arm herself, if she could.

And then came the phone call. That his cellmate had taken justice into his own hands. He'd killed their guy, and they needed to check out the scene. She remembered how naive Alex was going in. She was just as calm and collected as she ever was, and was trying to determine how this would effect the bigger picture.

"Do you think that this is something that will effect the trial?" Alex had asked, as they walked into the prison. Olivia had to pause. Alex didn't know what happened.

"He was murdered, Alex."

"He was what now?"

Had no one communicated to Alex that the guy was dead? Alex looked slightly shaken, but she brushed it off. It occurred to Olivia that she wasn't used to this. In her world, people who went on trial would stay in a cell, where they would safely stay until their trial was done. This didn't get in the way of that system, as far as she thought.

"Do you want to wait here?" Olivia asked the ADA. Alex thought about it for a second, before she shook her head.

"No, I'll be okay."

They walked into the prison cell, to find a mangled and bloodied corpse. Alex walked into the scene, and gasped. Her blue eyes had widened bigger than Olivia had ever seen them. Her shaking hands had covered her mouth.

Olivia reached a hand out to her, gently grabbing her shoulder. The blond jumped. That's when Olivia realized that Alex had never seen a body before. She'd seen crime scene photos, sure. But the real thing was a different monster.

"Are you okay?" Olivia had asked. Alex slowly nodded her head, her hands still covering her mouth.

"...That's one less piece of garbage in the world," she'd managed to mutter.

"Come on," Olivia wrapped her arms around her, "Let's get some air."

Olivia escorted Alex out of the building. The moment they were outside, Alex had rushed away from Olivia's arms, and collapsed onto her knees.

She threw up.

"Alex!" Olivia had exclaimed, running to her friend, "Alex, honey, are you okay?"

"There was so much blood," Alex said, between quickening breaths. Olivia nodded. The blond looked up at Olivia' wiping her mouth, "Sorry. This is really unprofessional of me right now."

And Olivia laughed. She didn't mean to, Alex's pain wasn't funny to her. In fact, it hurt her to see Alex this shaken. But there was something about the way that, even now, Alex's main concern was how professional she was.

"You don't have to be professional right now," Olivia said. She pulled Alex close to her. The blond leaned into her touch. She was shaking.

"Do you have to look at things like that every day?" Alex asked. But it was more of a statement than a question. Confirming to herself that yes, that's what the detective did. Olivia nodded.

"Unfortunately."

"How do you handle it?" The blond had asked. Olivia shrugged.

"You get used to it," Olivia replied. A sad but true statement.

It wouldn't be long before Alex herself would be used to that very sight. In the years to come, Alex would look at more bodies than she could count. She would watch people die right in front of her eyes.

And then there was the time they thought she'd die…

Olivia took a deep breath. That was in the past. She had other problems right now.

She wondered how Alex was feeling now, riding with her to a prison. It felt so familiar to Olivia, but at the same time, it didn't. Alex wasn't the ADA right now - Rafael Barba was. This time, Alex had simply been her ride. The blond would have to wait out front, while the rest of them did their job.

Olivia met with Fin outside the cell. He was the other detective called.

"Do you know what's going on?" Olivia asked him. He shrugged.

"Guess we'll find out," he responded. They walked into the cell.

Rafael Barba was already in there, waiting just outside the jail cell. He watched on as their perp was shaking, coughing, spasming like nobody's business. Paramedics were tending to him. Occasionally, the man would cry out in agony.

"Was he poisoned?" Olivia asked. She ran through her head, going through a mental list of things that would cause something like this.

"Doesn't look like any poison I know."

The paramedics were able to get him onto their cart, and were starting to move him out.

He coughed one more time, a loud, hacking cough. Blood spurted out of his mouth…

As well as something else. If Olivia didn't know any better, she'd say he coughed up a flower…

Olivia, Barba, and Fin exchanged looks. Eyes widened. The sickness that'd popped up all over the city.

One of the paramedics jumped into action, realizing the seriousness of the situation. He pulled up a radio, explaining the situation to his superiors.

Olivia realized she was in for a long night.

"Are we gonna have to go to the hospital?" Olivia asked. The paramedics nodded.

"Anyone who has had any contact with him in the past few days needs to be tested immediately."

Olivia turned to leave. She needed to tell Alex. She needed to let the blond know to go home without her…

A paramedic stopped her, "We need you to stay here, ma'am."

"No, I need to tell Alex…"

"Who is Alex?" Barba asked.

"You mean Cabot?" Fin jumped in. Olivia nodded.

"Alex Cabot...we met up this evening, she was my ride. I need to tell her what's going on."

"We can't have you do that, ma'am." The paramedic pushed.

"But…"

That's when she watched Fin push through the paramedic.

"Sir, you need to stay here."

"I left my phone in the car," Fin yelled at the paramedics, "If I'm gonna be at a hospital all night, I'd like to have it."

He was out the door, paramedics chasing after him. Olivia groaned. This was gonna be a long night.

The disease that had caused all this was called "Hanahaki Disease," It was named after the first poor guy to come down with it - what a legacy to have. In New York, though, it had gained the nickname "The Fairy's Cough" due to the surreal nature of it's symptoms.

It started out like the common cold - a runny nose, a cough here and there. But then the cough would get worse. Pretty soon, the victim would be coughing up blood - but that was the only thing.

The victim would cough up strange, flower-like bits. But it was those flower-like shapes that caused the worst of it. They'd fill up the victim's lungs, until they couldn't breath any more.

Health experts were stumped. No one knew what the flowers actually were, what created them. Was it some bizarre cancer? Or...something entirely new. But the worst part was, no one knew what caused it. Whether it was transferred through fluids, or it was a viral infection.

Due to that, no chances were taken.

At the hospital, Olivia had been escorted in through a special back entrance, by people wearing plastic suits. She had been placed in a quarantined waiting room. At first, the room wasn't that full. It had been her, Fin, Barba, the paramedics from the scene, and some of the jail staff. Pretty soon, the room started to be filled with more people. The defense attorney from the case, the bailiff, even Judge Petrovsky had been carted in there.

One at a time, people were taken away to be tested. It was surreal. Olivia remembered her conversation with Alex earlier, how she had to be tested when an intern came down with the illness. A part of her wished she talked to Alex about it more - so she knew what to expect now.

"I told her," Fin said. Olivia looked up at him, "Kind of."

Olivia laughed at him, "I appreciate it."

"I didn't know you two were still hung out," Fin said. Olivia shrugged.

"I mean, not really," Olivia sighed, "We just both happened to be in the same place, at the same time."

"What's she doing lately?" he asked. Olivia shrugged.

"I...don't actually know, tell you the truth."

Fin leaned back in his chair, pulled out his phone, "It always sucks when you grow apart from the people you're close with."

Olivia nodded, "Yeah, it does."

Fin laughed, "Did I ever tell you about that bet Munch and I used to have?"

That got Olivia's attention "I don't think you did."

"I thought you two were just friends," Fin explained, "And Munch thought you two were friends with benefits."

"Munch thought we were dating?" Olivia exclaimed.

"No," Fin laughed, "He specifically thought your relationship was...and I quote, 'purely sexual.'"

Olivia couldn't help but laugh. She felt a blush come to her face. She looked to Fin, "Did you two ever figure out what we were?"

"No," Fin sighed, "We asked Elliot about it, once. He told us to mind our own business."

Olivia nodded, "Sounds like Elliot."

It was funny. Olivia had always been secretive about her private life. She'd dated a few people in her time at SVU - none of who she told her co-workers about. Part of that was because, yes, Olivia was dating women. She was a bisexual woman in a time that it could be a career killer. Not that she thought her co-workers wouldn't support her. Sure, they could be conservative at times, but she knew they had her back, no matter what.

Another reason, though, was that she liked to keep her personal and professional lives as separate as possible. And it was hard, at times. Her job gave Olivia baggage. Her cases stuck with her. It was something she still struggled with, to this day.

"If you don't mind me asking now," Fin said, "Did you and Cabot ever have a thing?"

Olivia opened her mouth to answer that question...but she paused. That wasn't a simple question. Her relationship with Alex had always been hard to define.

"It's...complicated," Olivia shrugged. Before she could get a chance to talk about it more, a doctor came in and called Fin's name.

"Finally," he exclaimed, and looked to Olivia, "Hopefully this means you're next."

Olivia sighed. Hopefully.

She leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes. She wondered what would have happened, if she hadn't gone to the cafe that day. If she hadn't run into Alex that night. If she was being completely honest, she hadn't thought about Alex in months. Her life had moved on. If she hadn't run into Alex tonight, would she have ever talked to the woman again? It was a sad thought. There had been a time when the blond consumed most of her thoughts. A time where, she treasure the small moments between the two more than anything else.

Why wasn't it the same now? Why did they fall apart.

Olivia looked at her phone. Of course, it was past midnight. She took off her coat, and wrapped it around herself.

She should probably get some sleep, if she could.

It was worth a shot.

Thank you Sage, Thalie57, peterpeter, 1967, lizzy43, and nursenxn for reviewing! I really appreciate it! And special thanks to everyone who liked and favorited the story. You guys bring me so much joy.

This story will officially be updated every Monday. I've been having a lot of fun with it. Anyways, until next week!