Perspective
2000
Sniffing at the coffee pot, Detective Elliot Stabler jerked his head away from the burnt stench that wafted into his nose. He sighed as he dumped the contents of the pot and his cup into the sink.
The subtle click of thick heels echoed out of the squad room. To Elliot, the sound was as distinctive as fingerprints, since he knew that walk as well as his wife's.
"Munch make the coffee again?" came the velvety thick voice of his partner, Detective Olivia Benson.
"Either him or Jeffries." He snorted as he refilled the pot from the water cooler. "Neither one of them can make a decent pot to save their lives."
Liv chuckled as she bent down to fish the coffee can out of the cabinet.
Elliot glanced at his partner's shapely behind from the corner of his eye. Liv was five feet, eight inches of shapely feminine curves and he'd been trying hard to give her the respect that she deserved but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't ignore the fact that his partner was one of the sexiest women alive.
As the pot filled he changed the subject in his mind by promoting gossip.
"Hey did you hear about Carmichael?"
Liv straightened as she set the can on the counter. "No, what about her?"
"She went Federal."
He watched as Liv changed the drip cup in the machine. Her movements looked forced, "Really? Is that why we got saddled with Cabot?"
He pinched his lips, "Actually Cragen said that she was coming to us anyway. Said that most of the prosecutors are complaining about having to do Sex Crimes."
"Most of them are whiny, brats still sucking on their Harvard pacifiers."
He chuckled at her hard sense of humor.
"Still, one ADA has to be better than rotating them through."
She measured a couple of spoons of coffee and dumped them in the filter before shoving it and the drip cup back in place. "Cragen said that Cabot is a politician, how does that help SVU?"
"She's got a lot of juice." He said as he poured the water into the reservoir. "Monique said that she got that warrant against Radial Velocity in about two minutes."
"That doesn't scare you?" She stared at him, "If she can pull a warrant like that, she could hang any cop in this building out to dry on a whim, including Cragen."
He nodded, "Look, she's not all that friendly and she's got an attitude like she owns the world but she's who we're stuck with. You've seen her in court so you know she's good. Aside from that, there's nothing to do but watch what you say around her and try to stay out of her Majesty's way. The truth is that I think we're going to miss Carmichael."
Olivia cupped her hands over her face.
"What?" He asked and looked behind him to see the tall blonde attorney in question, standing in the door, her thin arms crossed and her hip cocked.
He turned back to his partner, "How long?"
"Attitude." Liv replied.
He closed his eyes and cursed inwardly before putting that confident smile on his face and facing the high born ADA. "Counselor."
She merely glared at him and in a movement that was every bit as regal as the Queen of England, she turned and walked away.
"Great job, El." Liv said and slapped him on the back. "Let me know if you get Manhattan patrol."
Frustration
Alexandra Cabot stepped out of Cragen's office and bee-lined it to the women's bathroom. Her eyes scanning the room for Benson and Stabler. Not seeing either, she sucked in a breath of relief. Stabler was one of those hardasses who looked at her like she was some self entitled bitch from a rich family. Even though she was from a prominent Boston family, she took care to not let that be known. Honestly she thought Abigail Carmichael had it easy, she'd gone to law school on a track scholarship and it was her grades that had kept her at the University of Texas. No one expected her to be as successful as she was.
Everything Alex did was to further move her along her parent's expectations. The only child of a tenured professor of economics at Boston Cambridge University and a history professor at Harvard, Alex's parents expected her to not only succeed at everything she did but also to thrive. The Cabot Family was one of the most illustrious families in Boston; every bit as prominent as the Fairfields and the Isles. Alex was expected to adhere to the same social standing in New York as she would have in Boston. Supposedly that was why she was here, to get some distance from Boston and to stretch her wings so to speak, but the truth was a lot simpler. New York City was far enough away from her parents and where she could discretely exercise her desires. She'd told them that there were far better political opportunities for a young lawyer out to make her mark which was true and they had agreed. At twenty five, she'd resented having to ask their permission to do anything but such was the nature of their society.
Her only relative in the city was her uncle, Judge Bill Harriman, and he of all people wouldn't tell on her should he ever find out that she was a lesbian.
Such things were a scandal to the Cabots; an unacceptable dysfunction, treated like an illness. Alex had made that mistake when she was fourteen and after the family maid Marguerite was fired, Alex had never seen her sixteen year old Consuela again.
She was one hell of a prosecutor, with the best education money could buy, the family connections to reach far and wide and enough favors owed in her pocket to get away with murder.
Still she wasn't happy, in two years she'd had three lovers, only one of them could be trusted to be discrete but only because she had a husband who was a federal judge. Even then, she wasn't gay so much as lonely, she only dabbled in same-sex encounters very rarely and only because she couldn't bring herself to cheat with a man.
That Alex had a professional relationship with her was an added bonus as it was easier to arrange meetings that sounded legitimate.
Alex stared at herself in the mirror. Blonde hair cropped just above her shoulders, a model's body and a movie star's face. But what set her apart were the icy blue eyes that she often hid behind stylish glasses. She was gorgeous and she knew it, but anyone who really knew her would see that Alexandra Cabot was as lonely as her occasional lover.
Her heart weighed heavy as she washed her hands in the sink and tried to shake the steamy thoughts of that dark haired detective out of her mind.
Detective Benson was the sexiest woman Alex had ever laid eyes on and she found herself wanting to feel that woman press her against a wall. Benson's luscious breasts pressing against her smaller ones. Alex wanted to grip those bare shoulders while wrapping her long legs around those wide hips.
Feeling hot and needy, she was wondering if she would have time to stop at her uptown Condo on the way back to the bottom of the island when a toilet flushed behind her. Alex's thoughts were snapped back in place as easily as closing a jewelry box... until Benson stepped out of the stall.
She felt her cheeks flush as those thoughts stirred again but she shut them down. There was no way she could even think about trying to pick up a cop, no matter how hot. One word to a partner like Stabler and it would be all through the New York Judiciary System and Alex would bring the very scandal her parents were afraid of down on them.
The Cabot's gay daughter, it was something she could never allow.
She forced her mind at ease and her face hardened into the blank face that she'd been practicing since she was seven, wondering how long it would take for her old nickname to follow her here.
Liv glanced at the new ADA who was staring blankly into the mirror.
I knew she practiced that face, yet something caught her eye as she stepped up to the sink to wash her hands. The ADA's cheeks were reddening under the foundation. She wanted to ignore it but Liv wasn't one to pass up a chance to help.
"Are you okay counselor?" She said as she stuck her hand under the soap dispenser.
"I'm fine, Detective, but thank you for asking." Cabot's voice was matched with the very same demeanor she was presenting. No emotion, no tells.
Liv gently washed her hands, the whole while she kept an eye on the ADA from the corner of her vision. The young woman's hands were trembling, though it was barely visible, and the ADA didn't blink though her eyelids were twitching.
"Elliot takes a while to warm up to people." Liv said as she shut off the faucet. "Once he does, he's a great man to have around."
Alex didn't say anything, she just kept staring. It hadn't taken her long to figure out that Benson was very observant. She kept her eyes focused on her own so that the gorgeous woman didn't see her staring at all of those beautiful curves.
"Anyway, nice job the other day in court." Liv said as she dried her hands and threw away the paper towel.
She started to walk out when that voice stopped her. "Benson?""
She turned to see the ADA's icy gaze focused straight into her own.
"I'm not one of those people who gets insulted and runs people through the wringer." Her eyes never wavered. "All I ask is that you and Stabler do your jobs, bring me cases I can prosecute and as the Captain said, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"You're in luck, counselor; that's all we do around here." She smiled and Alex felt her heart flutter. "See you later, Miss Cabot."
Once gone, Alex leaned hard against the sink, put a hand to her chest, and sucked in a huge breath, "oh my." Her heart threatened to pound it's way out of her shirt.
She looked back at her reflection and frowned. "Alex you'd better get this under control."
But her heart beat wildly and she knew that she was going to stop off at home, damn whatever appointments she had; she couldn't exactly run around the courthouse all hot and bothered, every would-be suitor would spend the day coming on to her.
As Alex left the 16th Precinct she came to one inescapable conclusion. Olivia Benson was going to play havoc on her and the brunette didn't even know it.
Distraction
Liv flipped through an evidence file as she tried to focus on the case she and Elliot had caught this morning. It wasn't easy. She'd had a meeting this morning in Cabot's office. The ADA had been wearing a pencil skirt with a slit up to mid thigh and a sleeveless blouse that had hugged the young woman's body beautifully.
It was strange how much she was attracted to the attorney. Stranger still that she'd love nothing more than to spend time with the beautiful blonde.
What the hell is wrong with me today?
The hot sex she'd had last night with that doctor she'd met last week had certainly been enough to satisfy her for a while. He was well built, good looking and knew how to use what he had. It was better than she'd had in a while. Not even sleeping with Brian Cassidy had excited her as much as the good doctor had. And she'd slept with Brian because of the excited taboo of sleeping with someone you work with.
Jesus Liv, wake up! That woman wouldn't give you the time of day. She shook her head and tried again to produce a single lead in the case.
"You want to talk about it?" Her partner said from across the desks.
Liv looked up in surprise, "Talk about what?"
He didn't even lift his head, "Whatever it is that's on your mind."
Crap! "I'm just trying to figure out where we go from here."
Elliot set the paperwork down and glanced around the room. "Two years of working together and you don't think I know when you're distracted." he smiled, "That Doctor what's his name, how did the date go?"
"Aaron Schlesinger," She said, "It went fine. How's Kathy?"
He smiled, "A little grouchy that you and I were out half the night the other day."
Liv snorted, "Well tell her that I said not to worry."
He chuckled, "Somehow I don't think that would help."
Liv rolled her eyes, "Well maybe a day at the salon together will help ease her mind."
He dropped his pencil on the desk, "You two are going out Saturday afternoon right?"
"Yeah," she said, "Francesca's Hair and Nail salon on thirtieth."
He nodded approvingly, "Good, she deserves it."
"A full time nurse and a full time mother of four," Liv chuckled, "Yeah I'd say she deserves to be spoiled once in a while."
He smiled, "Whatever it costs, Liv. Help me remind her that she's still the same amazing woman I married straight out of the Corps."
"Four little Stablers and she's still gorgeous, El." Liv chuckled, "Some girls get all the breaks."
The clacking of heels interrupted the very welcomed distraction. Liv closed her eyes as she remembered whose heels sounded like that.
She glanced around to see if anyone else recognized them. The new guy, Tutuola looked up towards the door and then stuck his nose back into his case.
Munch looked up and dipped his head in that unique way that made him look like he was working but was actually watching the room.
Jeffries scowled and continued to file away the closed cases.
The heels came closer from behind her and Liv schooled her face. She would not let the Ice Princess know that she was affected by her.
As Cabot walked past her desk, Elliot shook his head and picked up his notes again. Liv watched as Cabot continued to part walk, part float to Cragen's office. But as she knocked and entered, the ADA looked pointedly across the room and straight at her. Liv felt her pulse leap at the hot look she'd just received.
Bullshit. It's not what you think it was! Don't do it Liv!
Cabot disappeared and the door closed.
Liv stared, completely stunned at the thoughts in her mind. She knew it wasn't possible, the upper class just did not tolerate that kind of thing. Plus, their ADA had some lofty ambitions, something like that would make sure something like that would never happen.
She shook her thoughts off and went back to work. A few minutes later Cabot came out of Cragen's office. Liv glanced up and caught that look again. Before she could think better of it, she looked straight at Alex Cabot and focused her attention as she tried to get a read on the thin woman. It was a talent she'd developed since the academy; the ability to read a person's body language; looks, subtle signs and changes to tell if the person she was looking at was gay or not. Her academy partner Saroyan called it a gaydar. Liv turned it fully on Alex and just couldn't get a reading.
Until Alex looked up at her again on her way out the door.
If you could measure homosexuality on a meter, her partner would peg solidly on the hetero sexual side. Someone like Jeffries would read straight but close enough to the middle to know that she'd dabbled with women from time to time. If Liv could turn it on herself, she see that she was bisexual but favored the women's side of the gauge.
But if that needle existed, Alex Cabot would have just bent the shit out of it as it hit the stops on the lesbian side. That one look, though as ridiculous as it sounds, just told Liv that Alex Cabot was a gay as a woman could get. Liv was willing to bet her pension that Alex Cabot had never touched a man.
"Hey."
Elliot's voice snapped her out of her stunned state.
She turned her eyes to him.
"You okay? You look a little thunderstruck."
She jerked, her eyebrows pinched together, "Thunderstruck?"
He nodded, "Yeah, thunderstruck."
She rolled her eyes trying to cover up her reaction. "No more AC/DC for you. I want my CD back."
He chuckled, "Good luck, you'll have to get it from Maureen."
Liv sneered at him, "That's the fourth CD your klepto daughter has of mine."
He started laughing. "You're the one who bought her that walkman."
As she thought of Maureen's face when she'd opened in on her birthday, Liv couldn't be mad at the girl. The portable CD player was the best present the kid had ever gotten. What Liv hadn't expected was that she'd end up funding Maureen's CD case.
"Well, when I come by to pick up Kathy, Maureen and I are going to have a little talk about the Olivia Benson CD exchange program."
Elliot started laughing harder, "Let me know how that works out."
She smiled because she enjoyed being a small part of Elliot's family. Now if she could just convince Kathy that she had a better chance of getting in her pants than Elliot did, her partner's self conscious wife would be a lot easier on them both.
It wasn't like she didn't know her partner had a crush on her, most of her partners did. But Elliott was a good cop and a great dad. It was something Liv would never let herself get in the middle of. If Elliott had been single, she probably would have, after she requested a different partner. But she'd met Kathy on more than a few occasions and really liked the woman. One thing Olivia Benson had never been was a homewrecker, she wasn't about to start now.
Her mind turned back to the ADA.
That on the other hand was something worth thinking on… later… at home... in the shower.
A chill went down Olivia's spine as an involuntary thought of those long legs meeting a beautifully firm backside ran riot in her head. She pushed the thought down and went back to work.
Office of Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot
Three hours later.
Liv took a deep breath to steady herself and knocked on the the office door.
The response was terse and sharp: "Come in."
She steadied her hand and pushed in to see Cabot holding her phone to her ear.
"I have reservations at Le Bistro for eight o'clock tonight." She said harshly, "And the car must be waiting in front by no later than seven fifteen. If you cannot manage that then I will find another car service… thank you." She said in some irritation and hung up.
Sighing she pinched the bridge of her nose, dropping her hand Alex looked up at the detective and stopped breathing.
"Silhouette or City?" She said.
"Excuse me?"
"Silhouette is owned by Marko Popovich." Liv said as she sat down, "He focuses his services on models and celebrities. We have to check out his cars every now and again for hidden cameras because he likes to boost his business by taking pictures of naughty stars and selling them to the Paparazzi."
"And City Cars?" Alex arched an eyebrow.
Liv smiled, "When the cars are not driving around the rich and famous, we believe they're running top end escorts to the rich and famous. Try Prestige, David Bromback is honest and above all he's discreet."
Alex made a note on her legal pad, "Thank you detective. I feel the need to cancel my car tonight."
"Glad to be of service." Liv said. "Are you going after Harper and Lori for Murder?"
"No." Alex said. "I know Kenneth Cleary raped them and I won't put them through a murder trial that they'll walk on Justifiable Homicide anyway. Harper suffered enough."
"Thank you for that." Liv said.
"Don't thank me detective, what they did was a crime." Alex said coldly, "If I could put them away, I would. That's my job. I'm letting this go because I have zero chance at winning."
"So it's all about numbers to you?" Liv shook her head. "Just when I was starting to like you."
Alex leaned over her desk. "Olivia, I think you and I need to come to an understanding. You catch the bad guys and I put them away, that is the role we each have in this. I'm not going to lie to you, I have certain plans beyond just trying cases and winning but that doesn't pertain to whether or not you like me."
"If you're going to use my first name then you should call me Liv." Liv said as she stood up and rested her hands on Alex's desk. "The thing is that I want to like you. You've got something that my squad needs."
"And what's that?" Alex stared levelly at her, "Connections, what is it the cops call it… juice?"
Liv smirked as she leaned over the desk, "A heart. You come off as this cold blooded bitch that wants to climb the ladder as quickly as she can but I do this for a living, remember. I can tell when someone doesn't care and when they put on a front. It's more than politics for you isn't it? You actually want to make a difference."
"Making a difference is a key element of politics." Alex replied icily.
"No, it's not." Liv said with that smirk, she leaned in closer to the ADA. "Giving the appearance of change is the key. Making yourself appear more valuable than you are. You actually cared about what Harper went through, I can see it in your eyes, you wanted Kenneth Cleary dead just the same as I did, as Stabler did. What was it? Was it how closely you and Harper are similar in appearance? Was it how easily you realized that it could happen to you or anyone you know?"
Alex stared into those mocha brown eyes and had the feeling that the detective was trying to feel her out. She wanted to tell her that Harper's similar hair and build did affect her. She wanted to say how much it meant to her that Olivia cared about the victims. More than that, she wanted to say how she wanted to be cared about like that. But she didn't.
"Harper Anderson is a murderer, justifiable I will give you that, but nothing would please me more than putting her ass up at Rikers for a year. But I won't do that because of what she has been through and in no small part because Donnelly and I agree that pursuing Harper would be a waste of the taxpayers' time and money."
Liv smiled widely. "At least you're not afraid of voicing your opinion."
She straightened and nodded approvingly. "Welcome to SVU counselor."
Liv turned to leave when Cabot stopped her, "If I'm going to call you Liv, then you should call me Alex."
Liv looked over her shoulder. The blonde was standing, her arms crossed under her small breasts, framing them nicely, shoulders slightly raised to highlight them, A subtle sign of interest.
"A couple of us are heading down to O'Halloran's Pub on seventh." She said, "The end of the week and a big case closed, if your date at Le Bistro doesn't work out, you're welcome to come by."
"Thank you." She said haughtily, "But I'm not going out on a date. It's politics."
Liv snorted, "I imagine that takes up a good deal of your time." She turned and walked out.
"Unbelievable." Alex breathed, "I'll give her this, she's got balls."
She sat back down at her desk and picked up the phone.
"Sandy, get me the number for Prestige Car Service." She waited for her secretary to pull it up. "Yes, you can connect me."