A/N: Sorry it has been so long with an update. I've had way too much on my mind. Just finished my fifth novel and am in editing phases for it. Besides all the rest of my life that never ceases to stress me out as well, I have actually missed this story myself. I had to tell my muses to let me focus on one a day. So with that being said, hopefully, updates will come more regularly (like once a week per story) until they are complete in my mind. Anyways, enjoy and if you'd like review. I sure do appreciate all the support. Thanks, ~JET

Chapter Forty-Four - Conquers

Abbie was surprised to see Alex and Liv walking into the office. She was still pouring over the paperwork of the case. She wasn't prepared to see them for a few days. In fact she wasn't prepared to start working with Liv for at least a week. She wanted them to both be together and calm down from the adventure they had endured.

"Preparing the indictments?" Alex asked her, taking a seat.

"Yeah, you two?"

"I came to give my statement," Liv answered.

"Don't need it."

Alex and Liv were taken aback. They both looked at Abbie confused by her statement as Liv took a seat beside Alex. Reflexively Alex reached out and took Liv's hand. She squeezed it and gave Liv a curious smile.

"What the hell does that mean, Abbie?" Liv asked.

"I don't need your statement, Liv. I don't need you to give me one. I have everything that I need from reports and the updates from Dr. Huang. I don't need you to give me a statement. You can Alex can go back to the apartment and relax."

"Really?" Alex asked.

"I mean, you could help if you wanted, Alex, but I don't need Liv until I am ready to go before the Grand Jury. I'll want to go over her testimony before we present. But, pretty much, I think that you have done enough for me right now, Liv. Enjoy some time off."

Alex just stared at Abbie. She would have loved to have the detective in her office everyday as they went over the case. She knew that Liv would help her see things from not only the detective's perspective but also that of the victims. Alex wasn't sure what Abbie was playing at, but she knew that there was something on her friend's mind.

"Liv, didn't you have an appointment today?" Alex asked her.

"Yeah, but it isn't until later," Liv answered before she saw Alex's face, "But, I'll go see if he can see me sooner. I think that there might be some more that he can help me unlock in time for the case. Plus, there is some more that I want to talk to him about with Xander."

Liv stood up and kissed Alex on the forehead, taking her leave. Abbie was still pouring over the case files and not paying attention to what else was going in the office around her. Alex just watched her, wondering if Abbie was actually working on the case or trying to give Alex and Liv some space. Alex pushed her chair closer to the desk and stared at Abbie's head until Abbie looked up at her.

"What do you want, Alex?" Abbie asked, her brown eyes meeting Alex's blue.

"What the hell is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why aren't you trying to include Liv in your preparations?" Alex asked her.

Abbie sat down her highlighter and pen. She pushed the file away from her and stared across the desk at Alex. She wasn't sure what Alex was about but she knew that somehow she had annoyed Alex. Abbie sat back at her desk and waited for Alex to continue.

"Are you going to answer me?"

"Did you come here to question my ability?"

"No, I want to know why you haven't called Liv to come help you."

"I was trying to give you both some time. I know that you both needed it. The last few weeks have been hard on all of us. I have cases backing up in DC but I am here as a favor to all those involved. I am tryin' to spare Liv more flashbacks or other transitions," Abbie told her.

"I am well aware of the Liv's issues are with the case. I can't tell what game you are playing at. This case is very personal to her. She lived it. She survived it. She is going to have to remember it every time she looks into Xander's face. You are acting like Liv has nothing to do with it. Everything you have there is because of her and you know that," Alex stated.

"I know exactly how personal this is for Liv and that it why I am tryin' to help her. Alex, I am tryin' to distance her from the case so she can move on. She has been in this world and dealing with it for too long. I am trying to give her a break. She needs to let it go. I know that Huang is helping her, but soon he is going to have to go back to Oklahoma and y'all are going to have to go back to New York. This bubble that she has created here with you is going to pop and she is going to have to deal with the real world, again," Abbie explained.

"You don't think that she can deal?"

"I didn't say that," Abbie replied.

"Then what are you saying?"

"I am saying that Liv needs you to be there for her and not worrying about the case. This is my case now, Alex. You need to walk away and let it go."

Alex leaned back in the chair and sighed. She looked over the desk at her friend and fellow prosecutor and knew that she was right. Abbie was trying to help them in the only way that she knew she could.

"I plan on nailing them to the court room wall, Alex. You should know that I am not going to let her get away with this. I am not going to her brother skate by either. I am going to take down everyone that I can and you should know that. Alex, I have every intention of getting the lot of them. I am going to help, Alex. You need to believe that in order to help Liv find peace."

"I do believe that, Abbie. I…I just need something to do. I can't be with Liv every moment until the trial is over. She'll think that I am hovering and smothering her. Give me something to do. I could review part of the case with her or something," Alex told her.

"No, Alex, you can't."

"Why not, Carmichael?"

"Because you are already too close to this case. We all see how much you care for Liv. Hell, I remember how you were in Montgomery after she came back here. Let me do the job I was asked to do. If I can provide you with more detail for the international drug case, I'll give you everything I have. But, Alex, even you to rest. You need to be thinking about Liv and Xander and how this case is going to affect your lives. Besides the way it already has, this is going to continue to loom over y'all. I need to know that you are going to be okay."

"I will be."

"Are you sure?"

"I have to be."

"That was all I needed to hear."

"Excuse me?" Alex questioned.

"You are both pig-headed, but I know that you will both be okay with each other. I needed to know that you were still in this for Liv, regardless of how you felt about the situation. She needs to be constantly reminded of that. For better or worse Alex, she went in deep, so deep that she created Julie. She is having to come to grips with the life that Julie led and how that differed from a life that Liv would have lived. Julie gave her Xander, but in return she lost Frankie and part of herself. That is not something that she takes lightly or that she will easily forget."

"I know that."

"Then, you should understand that right now the best thing that you can do for this case is be there for her. Yeah, I might call you to come down here and help me with a brief or a filing, but right now, Liv needs you more than this case. I know that it will be hard for you to completely let the case go, Alex. Trying cases is in your blood and we both know what it is like to have the cases taken from us when we've put so much into them. Let me do my job as a US attorney and you do yours as a girlfriend."

"Thanks, Abbie," Alex stated.

"For what?"

"Being the voice of reason when I needed it. No wonder Jack was so mad when you left. He didn't have any with the balls to tell him 'no' in the DA's office. I still feel useless, but I think I could handle a small vacation. There are plenty of books that I have been meaning to read."

"And, you need to continue to bond with Xander," Abbie told her.

"That I do. He is going to be so loved. He isn't going to ever wonder what his life would have been without his two mommies," Alex replied.

"I'll make sure of that, too, Alex. I'll make sure that everything related to him is suppressed after the case. We don't want any unwelcome visitors later."

"Proving once again that Love conquers all," Alex said.

"I'll drink to that, Cabot. I'll drink to that every day," Abbie replied, pushing a file away from her and grabbing another one before she looked up at Alex again and asked, "You are going to spend your time in here with me while she is with Huang aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am."

"So, I guess you are going to help me with the case even when I don't want your help anymore, aren't you, Alex?"

"I promise not to get into the way."

"That isn't what I want to hear from you," Abbie told her.

"Then what do you want to hear?"

"I want you to promise me that no matter what you read or see in these files it stays here in this office. I don't want you taking files homes. I don't want you taking to Liv about it. She already has enough to deal with in her head; I don't need you adding to it. If you can promise that, then I'll think about letting you stay," Abbie explained.

"There was plenty I've already read that Liv doesn't know about. I don't plan on burdening her with more regret and pain because of this case. I want it to be over as much as she does, but I know something that she doesn't fully realize yet."

"Yeah, Cabot, and what's that?"

"This case will be with her forever. It is going to be how she decides to handle that fact that is going to make her or break her once we get back to New York. I can only do so much, so what little I can do for her, I plan on doing to the fullest."

"I don't know what she did to deserve you, Cabot, but she did a helluva job."

"It wasn't something that she did to deserve me, Abbie. It is what she didn't do. It was the silent battle that we fought for years and finally when the timing was right, we conquered each other's heart. The heart is a lonely hunter and it is mighty lonely when you are fighting against it."

Abbie cocked an eyebrow at the blonde but didn't say anything as she gathered a few files and handed to her. Alex took them readily and reached across the desk for a highlighter, opting for a different color than what Abbie was using. Abbie nodded at her understanding that Alex was doing that to help Abbie distinguish who thought whatever was important.

Alex sat back in the chair with the files on her lap. She pushed her glasses back up on the bridge of her nose and got comfortable. She knew that the next two hours would be painstakingly slow and maddeningly quick at the same time. She would have to review as much as she could as fast as she could to help Abbie and to keep herself sane when it came to the case and Liv. It would become her pastime, but it was one that her brain could understand and enjoy.