Chapter Ninety Seven – Alternative Medicine

Usually after Olivia had a seizure she slowly got better. She would look less pale, get her energy back, and would start acting like herself again. That didn't look like the case today though. They'd made it back to her apartment and she still wasn't saying much. It was like she was simply drifting.

"Liv? Are you okay?" Ben asked as they stepped into her place. "Do you have a headache?"

"No. I'm just tired."

Ben gently rubbed her back.

"Do you want me to go? Let you rest?"

"No. I want you to curl up with me."

That sounded like a fantastic plan to Ben. It looked like she could really use the rest too. When she took Suvi's vest and her shoes off she just shoved them off to the side. That wasn't like her. She usually got irritated with him when he didn't actually put his shoes away.

She plodded into her room without a word, and Ben followed her. Suvi trotted along behind them, staying as close to Olivia as possible. He was going to stay within full sight of her and only a few steps away at most after everything that had happened. In fact, he was so close that when Olivia pulled her shirt off and dropped it on the ground it landed on Suvi's head instead. He tossed his head a bit so the shirt ended up resting across his back. Olivia continued changing, oblivious to what had happened, and pulled on a large t-shirt and soft pair of pajama pants. She flopped onto the bed and looked at Ben. He got the hint and crawled in next to her.

"You sure you're okay?"

She rolled onto her side and cuddled into his chest.

"Better now."

Ben chuckled softly and stroked her hair. If curling up like this was what made her feel better then he was more than happy to oblige. Staying like this for the rest of the day would be perfectly fine with him. And then Suvi jumped up on the bed and walked over Ben to get to Olivia. That wasn't exactly pleasant, but that was alright. When Suvi curled up behind Olivia and dropped his chin on her side Olivia grinned. That smile on her pale face made it worth being walked over in Ben's mind. No lasting harm was done after all.

Olivia sighed contently. Having her two guys curled up next to her like this, nearly sandwiching her between them, felt wonderful. She was safe and protected and cared for. How could she not feel warm inside?

"Hey," Ben said softly before kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything else to help with that mess."

Olivia smiled and buried her head almost under his chin.

"I wasn't expecting you to do anything, Ben. I could handle it on my own."

Ben didn't respond to that. His mind couldn't help screaming, "And look how well that turned out." She'd wound up getting arrested, locked in a cell, and having a seizure without Suvi there to help her. Worse yet, there wasn't anything he could come up with that she'd gained from all of it either.

Olivia seemed to read his mind, though she didn't view the situation in the same way.

"It went the way I'd been planning for the most part, except for the seizure. I'd figured I would rub the truth in his face once we got to the precinct. I guess that ended up happening, but it's not as pleasurable to see someone realize they were an idiot when you're dizzy."

Of course. Here she was disappointed about not getting a chance to appreciate the uni being put in his place instead of being disappointed and upset over having a seizure in a jail cell. It made Ben question her priorities a little.

"I don't really think that's all that important, Liv. Besides, Cragen sounded like he was going to handle it himself."

"Someone needs to. It's… frustrating, and I know how to handle myself. Other people…" She shook her head. They wouldn't be able to stand up for themselves and their service dogs.

"There's nothing you can do, Liv."

"I can get involved. This whole thing makes me want to work with one of the service dog advocacy groups in the city."

Ben chuckled softly. She would probably do very well in that role, but…

"Yeah, in the amazing amount of free time that you have."

Olivia laughed as well. It was true that she didn't have a lot of time on her hands. Between consulting, conferences, volunteering at the hospital, and the articles she'd recently been working on she kept rather busy. When her laughter died away she rolled partially so she could look up at him and changed the topic. Slightly at least.

"You've been pretty busy yourself."

Lately she hadn't seen very much of Ben. He'd been spending a lot of extra time at work. While he still came over to her place after work, he was stopping by much later than usual. It was kind of strange.

"Yeah. Work has been keeping me busy," he admitted.

It wasn't a lie or at least not a big one. Just a little white lie. He had been busy working, but technically that work hadn't been for his actual job. Some of it was vaguely related though. He just didn't want to go into actual detail about what he had been doing with Olivia. Chances were she would figure it all out eventually, that was who she was and what she did, but hopefully he could keep that from happening until he was done. It wouldn't take too much longer.

Olivia reached up and traced her fingers along the side of his face and jaw. His eyes flickered to hers, and he grinned. It was an absolutely adorable smile, but it was hardly reassuring. She knew him, and her gut was telling her something was going on. Something far more than a busy month at work.

"You're up to something," she said, her eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion.

Her accusation hardly bothered Ben even though her suspicion was correct. He was up to something. Of course he wasn't going to give her anything to support her vague suspicion and simply laughed, totally at ease.

"You know me. I'm always up to something."

Olivia groaned and flopped back over onto her back. It forced Suvi to move, and he huffed irritably. He'd been comfortable the way he was. At least he could curl up at her side though. At first Olivia dropped her wrist onto her forehead and rested it there, vaguely frustrated. Then she peered at Ben around her arm.

"I know, and it's annoying."

Ben laughed and propped himself up on an elbow so he could kiss her temple. Her hand was in the way though so he kissed her palm instead. It made her smile despite her annoyance. At least if she was smiling she couldn't be that sure he was plotting something. Ben shifted over top of her, resting on his elbows and knees. As he smiled down at her he twined his fingers into her hair.

"Relax, Liv. I'm really not up to anything."

That was way more than a white lie. She just didn't need to know that. It wouldn't hurt her not to know.

"Yeah. Sure you're not," she returned before catching his lips with hers.

Despite what she'd said she didn't truly think Ben was doing anything. At least not anything bad. If he was doing something it was simply planning some date he wanted to surprise her with or that he didn't think she would agree to. That was alright. She trusted him. Generally.

When they parted Ben began humming softly. Despite how soft the humming was, the song was clear even without words. Bad Boys. Ben thought it was rather appropriate despite the gender inconsistency. Olivia rolled her eyes but didn't have the heart to yell at him for his humor considering how much his eyes were dancing.

"Oh knock it off and kiss me."

She didn't give him much of an option and simply leaned in for another kiss. Ben was more than willing to drop the song for that.

The moment Olivia's lips touched his once more Ben leaned further into the kiss, completely getting sucked in. He wasn't at all against this nice little distraction, especially since Olivia was the one that needed to be sidetracked. Ben pressed the kiss deeper, eliciting a small moan from Olivia. She wrapped her arms around him and came up for a quick breath of air before pulling him further against her and reigniting the kiss. It didn't take long to get back to where they had been. Ben's renewed vigor after their momentary pause quickly made Olivia's lips begin to tingle. Feeling his lips against hers like that was heavenly, and she moaned again. It only gave Ben fuller access. He made good use of it and easily drew more pleased moans out of her.

Then the moment was broken as Suvi licked Olivia's ear in response to her moans. Olivia jerked away automatically and immediately tried to wipe off her ear.

"Ugh! Suvi! Not helping!"

When the kiss had been broken Ben couldn't help being frustrated, but then he realized what had happened. As disappointing as ending the kiss was, Suvi's actions were rather adorable. Even if Suvi's attempt at helping Olivia and making her feel better had failed miserably, it had given Ben an idea. While Olivia was distracted ordering Suvi off the bed so they wouldn't be interrupted again Ben leaned over and nibbled on her ear (the one Suvi hadn't licked of course). She jumped nearly as much in response to Ben's tongue as she had to Suvi's.

"Ben!"

"Mm?" he murmured as he planted a kiss behind her ear.

Olivia's breath caught, and she couldn't get out a word in response. Ben didn't let up on his kisses or teasing except to get out one sentence broken into fragments around his heated attack on her skin.

"Let me make today up to you."

Eyes half closed, she couldn't help sliding her hand up his neck and into his hair. Thankfully she was feeling a lot better than she had been when she'd arrived because she didn't want to say no to this.

"I think I would like that."

It was definitely a good thing she'd kicked Suvi off the bed.