Chapter Six - Conference

Alex was pacing in the non-descript gray conference style room at the FBI center in Quantico. She took her glass off more than once and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to alleviate the tension headache that was building. She was nervous. She hadn't been this nervous since she met Olivia the first time she walked into the 1-6, back when she actually worried about making a name for herself. No, now, she was worried that Olivia wouldn't know who she was, wouldn't remember who she was, and wouldn't care. Alex was scared.

"Sit down, Miss Cabot. Worrying a hole into my carpet isn't going to make anything better. Have a seat. Ike and Russell will be in here soon," Dana told her.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Alex asked her.

"Lots of practice, darling. This is how I spend most of my days now. Briefings and going over task force notes with other senior agents. Trust me. I would rather be in the field or undercover making the case. But, I am past my prime and that ship has sailed. Now park it," Dana replied.

Alex kept her glasses in her hands and she finally took a seat near Dana. She began to twirl her glasses through her fingers. Dana reached out and stilled Alex, giving Alex a look as she did it.

"You'll get to see her soon. By the way, I got you vetted. You have FBI credentials for the time being. You'll have full access to Olivia while we debrief her."

"Why?"

"Because I know that she might just disclose to you. If she does, I need to be able to explain why you are there. The USDA doesn't care, but it'll look better on paper. Besides, I am trying to arrange for an apartment at Quantico Heights, our lovely FBI housing for the Academy. I am asking to get y'all put in an unoccupied building near the FBI hospital. You'll have as much privacy as I can afford between briefings and testimony. It is going to be a rough couple of weeks for everyone, especially you. You sure you can do this?"

"I have to, don't I?"

"Alex, I know that you aren't happy about this situation. Hell, Sugar, I am not happy about this either. I damn well know that Olivia isn't either. She's is probably going to be mad as hell to find out you are here. Look, I know that you still moonlight for the ICC. I can talk to the USDA and see if you can work the case, too, if you want. I mean you are an international DA, how hard would it be for you to work for us instead of NYC?"

"Don't," Alex said, standing back up and putting her glasses back on. She made her way to the window and stared out of it. She stared at the trees and the blue sky; trying to find a reason…for everything she was about to deal with and more. She could do this, she kept telling herself. She had to do it, for Liv. She had to be strong for Liv, for all the times that Liv was strong for her, for everything they had been through…but mostly, for Liv and love.

"Alexandra, I'm sorry. I just figured that you would like to throw the book at the bastards that did this to Olivia and the rest of the people they hurt. I didn't mean anything by it. I am sure that you just want to go back to New York as soon as you can. I am willing to help with that, but I need you to be on top of your game here, Girlie. Olivia went into a dark world and came out beaten. I need to know that you can help with this. If you can't, tell me now. Once you're briefed, I can't let you go. Once you see Olivia, I can't let you go. This is your only time to run. Once Ike and Russell get here, you'll be officially part of the case."

"I've dealt with drug rings, prostitution rings, trafficking of children, kiddie porn and rapists. I don't think you can tell me anything that will surprise me. I've been in WitSec, twice. I've in the deepest, darkest parts of the Congo and faced down militant rapists. I've handled Olivia through the good and the bad. We've bonded over alcohol and perps. I can handle it."

"Good. Sit. Breathe. This is about to get nasty," Dana stated as Ike and Russell walked in.

"Okay, we'll deal with all of that later, boys. I need you to settle down. Alex is going to be here whether you like it or not. She is an ICC prosecutor. She's in it for the possible international connections. And, no, Ike, she isn't taking this case. She's in it for personal reasons."

"What was your name again, ma'am?" Russell asked, regarding Alex like they had met before.

"My name is Alexandra Cabot. I am the Executive Assistant District Attorney for New York City with the Hate Crimes Unit and an APICC for Sex Crimes. I am purely here to help, Gentlemen," Alex stated.

"You're Alex?" Russell asked, smirking.

"Yes?" Alex replied, looking from Russell to Dana and then back to Russell.

"Wow, I was wrong. So very wrong from the beginning. But, it all makes so perfect sense, now," Russell stated, before he asked Ike, "Did you know?"

"No, I didn't. I just thought she was good. I mean, she had Frankie in less than a month from their meet. I didn't see this coming either," Ike replied.

"Do you, gentlemen, mind sharing your insight?" Dana asked.

"She is Julie's Alex," they both replied.

"Who is 'Julie'? And, what does that have to do with the case?" Alex asked then all.

"Julie Seabrook was Olivia's undercover name. It is also the only name that Russell and Ike knew her under. Sorry, I thought that I had briefed you on that," Dana answered, but then asked, "So, what does Alex have to do with the case?"

"You never told her? All the reports that I sent in about her saying 'Alex' over and over again in her sleep that I sent you, and you never told her. I thought Alex was her lover or ex-husband. Did you know?" Russell asked Ike.

"I had no idea. I just thought that they were ramblings. I didn't push the issue when I spoke with Julie, I mean Olivia. I didn't want her to break while she was under," Ike asked.

"Explain that statement, please, Mr. Bellinger," Alex demanded.

"I'll tell you, counselor. I was under as Julie's brother. We lived together in a nice house up in Vinings, just outside of Atlanta. She has her own room, a car, and motorcycle. She came and went as she pleased, like she was supposed to do. She reported to me anyone or anything that seemed out of place or new to the scene. I would run them, and then, report anything up to Ike, like standard procedure," Russell answered.

"And, that has to do with me, how Agent?" Alex questioned.

"I awoke one night to Julie screaming. I ran down the hall and to her room. She was having a nightmare. She kept calling out for 'Alex.' I called Ike about the next day. Asked him to dig into it to make sure that it wouldn't break her cover, and Ike told me not to worry about it."

"It was nothing. A lot of people say shit in their sleep. I didn't think it was pertinent. Besides, you made Alex out to be her Dad who died in the line. I didn't think it would matter."

"It didn't. It still doesn't. Let's move on. Olivia went under and got us our information. What I want to know right, Gentlemen, is how she went missing and what condition she is in? We will start the debriefing with Olivia as soon as our doctors clear her. So, I want to know what happened over the last three weeks," Dana stated.

"She told me that she and Frankie were going on a bike cruise to Tennessee. The gang was having a meeting soon after they got back. She said that Robin and D. J. were going with them. She told me it sounded like a friendly outing, but she would wear boots. We had her tailed. They lost the tail. We activated the GPS. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until she didn't report back on Thursday when she was supposed to be back in town. The GPS recorded her back in Atlanta. She hadn't reported but we had the GPS signal. We watched it. It moved around in the gang haunts. We never had any reason to suspect that she was out or injured. We couldn't exactly go storming into anything. It would tip the scales," Russell stated.

"So what did you do?" Dana asked.

"We waited. We baited. We listened. We tailed. Nothing gave us any reason that anything was wrong until Sally was found dead," Ike added.

"What tipped you off that they were related?" Alex asked, getting a little edgy.

"Sally was Julie's 'hail, Mary' contact. She was the only one that would get into the scene and get Julie out if need be. Julie never asked for it. She was good. Julie held her own with them more than once. Sally's murder was a hit. I went down to check the ballistics myself. The bullet came from one of Robin's lieutenant's guns. We then moved to extract Julie. We knew that something was wrong. We went to the last location that she was known to be at," Ike stated.

"I was first in. It was bad. They weren't there, but I could tell that they had been there before. There was blood, clothing and signs of a fight. I called Ike and got CSU in there to process it. By then, the GPS was failing. We didn't know that the battery was dying in her boots. We went to every know location that we had on record. We hit each one of them hard," Russell stated.

"Russell and I met up at the safe house in Atlantic Station. We decided that to raid the warehouse in Piedmont ourselves. We made our way into the warehouse," Ike started.

"I ran point. I was the first one in. I found Julie and Frankie. They were both hurt. Ike and the rest went around to find Robin and D. J. Ike caught up with them while I was dealing with Julie and the baby. Julie was shell-shocked. She was there but not. I had to fight her to get her in the bus and to the hospital. All she kept telling me was that the baby's name was Alexander. Frankie was already dead. We are waiting for her death to be ruled homicide."

"Wait, what?" Dana asked.

"Frankie was over eight months pregnant. Julie delivered the baby while they were in that warehouse. I stayed behind and dealt with the scene. Everything was processed. I met Russell at the hospital later," Ike added.

"Back up, for me, a second. They took Frankie, too? And, shewas pregnant, when they took Olivia?"

"Yeah, beat them both, too."

"They better be glad I don't have jurisdiction here," Alex said, shooting up from the table.

Ike and Russell watched her. Dana didn't seem fazed and wanted them to continue. She motioned for them to finish their story. She let Alex continue to stare out the window, knowing that the next parts were going to be rough for her to hear.

"So, give me a summary of what you found," Dana pushed them.

"From what we've gathered, Julie was hung from the ceiling at some point," Russell started.

Alex turned around and took her seat. She knew that she would fall, falter, if she wasn't sitting when Russell and Ike described the scene they found Olivia in that day. She didn't want to hear it, but she knew that she had to know. She needed to know what happened to Liv in that warehouse so she could help her.

"She was hung up mostly on her right side. It dislocated her shoulder to the point where her ligaments were stretched, but not torn. At some point, her right humerus was broken. They were both beaten, most likely with a baseball bat across the knees and legs. Frankie's legs were more severe than Julie's, but Julie sustained multiple and deeper lacerations. We are still trying to identify the knives that made the marks. There are several cuts to the upper body. Julie gave them one helluva fight even though she was strung up," Russell told them.

"Is there anything else?" Dana asked, watching Alex's reaction, waiting for her to run.

"Yeah, evidently, Julie delivered the baby boy with one arm. She took the brunt of the abuse from Robin and D. J. She had to have taken some blows to the head at some point, but we can't tell when and how many. She's been in and out of consciousness for days. When she is awake, she is lucid, but only asks for Alex. She's been heavily concussed," Ike replied.

"I'll call Huang. Hopefully, he can help us. It's a long shot, but I know he used to help the 1-6. That might be enough for me to get him here for Olivia. Has she said anything else?" Dana asked.

"No, the doctors say she'll wake up agitated and call out for Alex. Other times, she asks about the baby. She woke earlier, screaming out for Alex to stay with her and that everything was going to be alright," Ike told her.

Alex blanched. She knew the reason that Olivia was screaming out for that. She could only hope that the beating she took wouldn't trigger those memories on top of what Olivia had been through. She knew that Ike and Russell were watching her, gauging her reactions. They found what they were looking for. Alex knew that they were only doing it out of the respect and partnership that they had come to share with Liv. It didn't make it any easier for any of them.

"The doctors want to keep her sedated until the swelling goes down, again," Russell added.

"Again?" Alex questioned.

"Her brain swelled during the extraction from Atlanta to here. The doctors are hoping that it will go down quickly. They are monitoring her every move, heartbeat, breath, brain wave, et cetera."

"Can I see her?" Alex inquired in little more than a whisper.

"I don't see why not. She's sedated. She can't hurt anyone. They opted to let her rest until the swelling went down because of the nurse she decided to punch during one of her agitated episodes. I just want to warn you Miss Cabot. She's changed since you've last seen her. You need to be prepared for that. She isn't Olivia. She is Julie," Russell told her.

"I'll be the judge of that," Alex said, standing and walking to the conference room door, "Now, who is going to take me to see her? Dana?"

"I'll take you, Miss Cabot," Russell said.

"We'll all go," Dana corrected him, "I want to see her for myself. I need to see her."