Olivia stormed up the stairs of the building that held the ADA's offices. She quickly darted up the stairs not wanting to waste time on the elevator. When she opened the door to Alex's floor she stopped and took a few calming breaths. It wasn't going to do any good going in half cocked as she had earlier. She smiled at Alex's secretary, Anna, as she passed her.
"Detective she said she wasn't to be disturbed" Anna said jumping from her chair in an attempt to stop her.
"I will tell her that you made every attempt to stop me." Olivia said as she walked around her and opened Alex's office door.
"Anna I told you I'm not to be disturbed." Alex barked without turning around.
"Trust me she made every attempt to stop me" Olivia snapped out as she shut the door and locked it behind her.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be escorting Sheppard back home?" Alex said her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Elliot is" Olivia said as she held her hand up stopping Alex from talking "Now what the hell was that in the bull pen?"
"Did you not see how she was all over you in the line-up room?" Alex asked as she fought back tears "I had to stand there and watch."
"I was offering her comfort and that's it." Olivia whispered as she slowly closed the gap between the two of them "Alex these women have had their lives ripped out from them. Every man they see in the street is their rapist. Everyone that get nears them will hurt them the way their rapist did. I offer them comfort and security. I have a natural way with the victims. Maybe because I've had my whole life to practice. "
"Meanwhile I get to stand to the side and watch her. Do you know how that makes me feel?"
"Probably the same way I feel when I watch you in the courtroom. How every male in there has you undressed in seconds. Damn Alex, if I could arrest them for their thoughts I would."
"I have no control over that."
"The same way I have no control over how a victim acts with me."
"Does every victim cling to you like that?" Alex asked her voice cracking with emotion.
"Sometimes yes and sometimes they are like stone because they haven't allowed themselves to process what's happened. Now tell me what's really bothering you? This subject has never come up since that fateful night. There's more to it than what you're letting on."
"How do you deal with it?" Alex asked as tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"I direct them to counseling and victim assistance department."
"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about hearing everything done to them. How do you remain emotionless?"
"We're trained to show no emotions." Olivia whispered as she pulled Alex into her arms understanding what all the commotion was about "We have to be able to stare down the barrel of a gun seconds before our death and show no fear. Besides the last thing a victim needs is to see the ones investigating their crimes is to break down."
"I read the report today." Alex said pulling back and looking at Olivia "reading the things he did I can only imagine how it is hearing it."
"It's hard, very hard. I see every day how terrible people can be to each other. Each time its worse than the last. Reading is nothing compared to having to hear the victim relive the worse day of her life."
Hearing that Alex buried her head into Olivia's shoulder and let the tears flow. Maybe working for SVU wasn't such a good idea. If she gets this emotional just reading reports how will she ever handle listening to it in the court room? How did Olivia handle it with her background?
"Guess I really showed my ass back there." Alex whispered as she pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"If you're scared and not able to handle it that's fine but don't ever take it out on a victim. They have too much on their plate already ok."
Alex nodded as she started to kiss Olivia when they were interrupted with a knock on the door. Alex growled as she moved from Olivia and headed for the door. Whoever it was on the other side have better have a damn excuse for disturbing them.
"What." Alex said as she jerked the door open.
"Umm, I was looking for my partner" A very nervous and uneasy looking Elliot said as he rocked on his heels.
It took all Alex had not to double over with laughter watching the hardened detective. He looked almost as if he was a little boy asking a young girl out on a date for the first time.
"She's in here Stabler" Alex said as she stepped to the side and motioned him to come in.
Elliot cautiously stepped into the office and looked around. He was happy to see everything was still in order. He was almost afraid of the disarray he would find when he arrived. The fact he didn't hear screaming when he arrived made him happy.
"El you can relax" Olivia through laughter "We're not going to kill each other. We may blow up and yell at each other but we can sit down and have a conversation about it after a while.'
"Yeah but the accusations" Elliot said as he spun to face Alex "You have to believe that liv would never leave you for anyone. She doesn't even so much as to allow her eyes to wander. I swear to you on my children's lives."
"Relax Elliot" Alex said through fits of laughter "We've been down this road before. There's no doubt in my mind about Olivia's faithfulness. What you saw says otherwise but it wasn't easy watching this woman swoon all over Olivia. Although I do know why and understand now. Let's just say every now and then the jealous crazy side comes out of me."
"I'm married I understand it believe me."
"Can you give us a few more minutes?" Olivia asked.
"Do one better" Elliot said as he headed for the door "I'll cover for you until after lunch."
"Thanks partner I owe" Olivia called out as Elliot shut the door behind him.
"I was wondering if I could take my beautiful wife to lunch." Olivia asked as she pulled Alex to her amazed as always at how well their bodies fit together.
"I would love that." Alex whispered as she leaned in to kiss Olivia.