History

As Alex prosecuted the latest case brought to her by SVU, she had to keep her eyes forward as Olivia Benson sat in the courtroom. This case had been important to her and despite the fact that Alex had pushed hard on this one, she felt a deep need to show the beautiful detective what she could do. Her closing argument finished, she left the courtroom, confident that the jury would return a verdict of Guilty.

Now the detective on the other hand, Alex had the hardest time keeping her mind on the job. As she walked down the steps at 500 Pearl Street, she heard her name being called.

"Alex!"

She turned around to see Benson following her.

"Hey hold up a minute." She said.

"Detective?" She replied with her icy voice, "what can I do for you?"

"Let me buy you lunch." Olivia said in that velvety voice of hers.

Alex felt a chill go down her spine and settle in a place that made her body heat. She ignored it, for the most part and focused instead on talking normally, "I don't have a reservation anywhere."

Liv shook her head, "I have a standing reservation at Dimitri's. C'mon, slum it a little."

Her head jerked and her eyebrows arched, "Slum it a little?"

"Trust me, Lemures, Le Bistro, and any of those other five stars have nothing on Dimitri's." Liv's brown eyes focused on Alex's blue ones and she could swear that Benson was reading her mind and soul. "C'mon, you knocked this one out of the park, let a lowly civil servant express her gratitude before you go back to your high end political schedule."

"You'd be more convincing if you didn't say that like you were stepping in a steaming divot." Alex said.

Liv lead the way to her old cruiser, "Okay, this is going to sound dumb but if a divot is a chunk of grass that's been torn up by a golf club, then what's a steaming divot?"

Alex chuckled, "What would you call golf with horses?"

"Polo." Liv answered as she opened the door of her cruiser.

"And what do you think a steaming divot is?" Alex said as she first eyed the clean car then sat in the passenger seat.

Liv smiled as she shut the door, "Horse shit." she said under her breath as she went around the other side.

She sat down in the driver's seat and shoved the key in the ignition, "Look I'm sorry, I get attitude I give it back. It's just the way i am." Liv looked over her shoulder, flipped on the lights and pulled into traffic.

"I'm not trying to give you attitude." she said as she started to look nervous. "And you're abusing your authority."

Smiling Liv shut off the lights as she turned on to fourth. "Just a little." she said as she pulled up to a red light. "The job has a few little perks. I don't blow through red lights but making a hole in traffic, yeah, I'll do that." The light turned green but the cab wasn't moving. Liv tooted her horn but the cab still sat idle, brake lights glowing. "And then there's this." Liv reached to the controller again and whelped her siren. The taillights on the cab went out and it got moving, As the light turned yellow, she switched on her lights again and made a left. Once through the intersection she again shut them off and pulled up infront of a restaraunt.

"Dimitri's Grille & Grinders." Liv proclaimed, "The best Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich on Manhattan Island. Their Italian is good too."

Alex stared at the small restaurant then back to the detective who was climbing out of the car. "C'mon, Counselor. I promise, your refined pallet will get lost here."

She pulled the car door open and held a hand out in a oddly chivalrous way. Alex rolled her eyes and took the detective's hand. It was a mistake as she felt the soft hands that held a few callouses from the labors of police work. Her body exploded with heat as Olivia gently pulled her up. Her mocha colored eyes were dark and inviting.

Liv led Alex inside and was greeted by an elderly gentleman who immediately took Liv's hand, "Detective Benson. A lovely day as always when you come in."

"Donny, this is my prosecutor, Alex Cabot." She looked at the blonde, "Alex? Meet Donatello Pino. He's the manager, and Dimitri's eldest son."

"A pleasure Miss Cabot." He gushed, "It's always a pleasure to meet Olivia's friends." he returned his smile to Liv. "I held your usual table for you in the back. But be warned Natalie insists on being your waitress today."

Liv smiled, "It's no problem Donny. I'd like to see how she's doing anyway."

He nodded and spoke in italian, "Bless you, Bella."

In her best Italian she thanked him and lead Alex to the back of the small dining room. They'd no sooner sat down when a pretty girl with curly brown hair walked up to them.

"Olivia!" She exclaimed.

Liv smiled and got up to hug the girl, "Hello Natalie. How are you?"

"I'm doing okay, but Papa's making me work all the time." She stepped back and smiled up at the woman, "He doesn't want me at home alone and after what happened, I kinda agree."

"That's only cause your dad loves you." She looked to her blonde companion, "This is my friend Alex."

Natalie smiled and shook hands with the attorney. "She's beautiful, Olivia."

Liv shook her head, "She's not that kind of friend. Alex prosecutes my cases and she's very good at it."

"If you're giving her props then she must be good." she sighed, "I wish she could have worked my case."

"Hey now." Liv chided, "Abbie did what she could with it. He's gone and he'll be gone for a long time."

Natalie nodded, "I know, I'm sorry." her eyes got distant and her expression fell into despair but as soon as it was there it was gone again. "So whaddya havin?"

Liv sat down and glanced at the attorney, "An Antipasto salad for the lady and we'll split a twelve inch Philly."

Natalie started writing on her notepad, "You know we're not supposed to do that but Papa said whatever you want so I'll have it up in a minute. Anything to drink?"

"I'll have a cola."

Alex nodded, "I'll have the same."

Natalie nodded with a grin, "I'll get the cooks on it and bring your drinks right out."

Liv smiled, "Grazie."

"Prego." She said bubbly and bounced away.

Alex eyed Liv carefully, "I take it she was one of yours?"

Liv nodded solemnly, "A predator stalked her and tried to rape her. Elliot and I barely got there in time."

She nodded, "There's some truly wicked people out there."

Liv nodded and kept staring at the prosecutor.

"You said I'm not that kind of friend." There was no need to elaborate further.

Liv shifted slightly, "Natalie had a close call and now she doesn't trust men. Aside from her father, uncles and Elliot, She tries to stay away from all men."

"So she's gay." Alex said.

"These things can do that to girls her age, she just turned 17 a month ago." Liv clammed up as Natalie came back with two red coke glasses that were filled with soda.

"Here you go, I'm sure you ladies have things to talk about so I'll be over at the counter doing homework. Just call if you need something."

"Thanks Natalie." Liv said.

"Thank you, Natalie." Alex added.

She smiled at them and returned to a laptop that was sitting next to the register.

"She's home schooled now." Liv added, "Her father and his brothers won't let her out of their sight."

"It must have been a bad case." Alex said.

"He kidnapped her, stripped her, bathed her, and felt her up, all on a webcam." There was venom in Liv's voice. "He was going to rape her on camera too, but we got to them in time."

Alex shuddered, "What was his sentence?"

"All in, twenty five and fifteen consecutive." Liv said, "He's up in Attica, hopefully getting what he was going to give out."

Alex sipped at her beverage, "I wouldn't have settled for anything less than fifty."

Liv smiled, "Then I'm happy that you're here."

Something jerked inside Alex at the detective's words and that gorgeous grin. Once again, Alex was stunned by Benson. It was the little things, that caring smile, that warm demeanor, the way her eyes crinkled slightly as she laughed, that drove Alex's libido wild. She tried to school her thoughts and settle the parts of her body that were going rogue on her. It wasn't easy but the arrival of Natalie with the salad and something that smelled delicious helped and made her salivate.

As the girl placed the food on the table, the look that passed between the attorney and the detective was the promise of something good about to happen. She paused as she fully realized how disarming Benson was. The sexy detective had a way of casually slipping inside undetected, though Alex, as self controlled as she was, had seen it. Though it had her wondering weather Benson was doing it on purpose. Schooling her face into it's cool blank facade, Alex mentally chastised herself for letting her defenses slip.

The chilling face of the ADA wasn't missed by Olivia. She'd seen a glimpse of what was inside and it had left her yearning for more. She reminded herself that this was supposed to be a casual lunch to get to know the ADA better for working purposes, not a date. She lifted half of the sandwich and placed it on a plate. "Now you can eat this with a fork if you'd like but traditionally, we usually just pick it up and munch.'

As Liv picked up a half and gently bit into it, Alex cringed as oil and cheese dripped out of the bottom of her sandwich. Alex picked up a fork and used it to lift the bun enough to get a good look at the meat and cheese,.

"It's very greasy." She said, but her tone was more curious than disdainful. "Do i want to know how fattening this is?"

Olivia smiled, chewed and swallowed quickly, "Trust me, just take a bite before you criticize it."

Alex eyed her nervously. She took the knife of the table and cut a small piece off of the sandwich. Taking a breath Alex closed her eyes and lifted a fork full into her mouth.

The instant it hit her tongue her eyes flew open as her taste buds exploded in ecstasy. "Omigod." Alex said with her mouth full. She started chewing and nodding her head, her face in absolute bliss. After swallowing, she looked back to the detective, "Oh this is delicious."

Liv laughed, "I told you."

Alex smiled back and launched a hearty though refined attack on the sandwich. Her salad left completely ignored.

"So you think the Jury will come back with a guilty."

Alex nodded. "Its hard to say for certain, but yes, I believe they were convinced." She twisted her wrist and looked down at her watch. "But we'll know for sure after they reconvene from lunch."

Alex carved of another dainty bite of the sub, "So how long have you been at SVU?"

"About two years." Liv said between bites. "I went to SVU straight off of Patrol."

Alex arched her brow, "Isn't that unusual?"

"Not really," Liv said, "My training officer pegged me for the unit three days in to my patrol. She was right and i have no regrets."

"So when you leave for the day, it is a reasonable assumption that you leave the job at work?"

"Whenever I can." Liv eyed her carefully, "Are you having difficulty separating yourself from the job."

She nodded slightly, "I knew what charges I was getting into when I took the job but…"

"But you didn't know how gruesome this job can get." Liv finished for her.

"Exactly, how do you put it away at night." Alex looked up for any reaction from the detective.

Liv leaned back, "To tell you the truth, I can't always push it away. Sometimes the case just lingers."

"Doesn't that take its toll on your relationship?" she asked casually as she placed another morsel into her mouth.

A slight snort erupted from the brunette, "I'm single and not to scare you off but a lot of that has to do with handling sex crimes. Most of the people that I date are disgusted by what I do and some are just way too interested. So it's been hard to find someone who can handle my job."

Alex nodded her understanding, "I guess i can see that."

"A piece of advice for you." she leaned over the table, "there is a certain distance that ADA's tend to keep from our crime scenes and our victims. Your young, driven, and blissfully naive of the horrible things that we deal with. At some point you're going to want to see the process from the beginning." Liv stared right into her eyes, her face as hard as stone, "Don't. As bad as the statements, the evidence, and the testimonies are, once you cross the line and go to a crime scene or the hospital, it all takes on a realism that can't be undone. Enjoy your ignorance, trust me, it really is bliss."

"Eventually i will have to follow one of you through the process." Alex said, her eyes as cold as ice. "So that I can understand something about what it is that you do, what the victim goes through."

"Just ask your detectives." Liv emphasized, "Turn over at SVU is about two and a half years because no one can stare this in the face for long. We've taken on all kinds of cops and believe me, hardened detectives from Homicide, Assault, Narcotics, SWAT, most can't hack it. There are a few Like Munch and Elliot who've been in SVU longer than most but one thing that I learned is that everyone has a breaking point."

"And you don't think an ADA can handle it?" Although she was trying to put on the appearance of being insulted, Liv's words were resonating inside her. "Or is it just me?"

"Not at all." Liv replied harshly, "I'm suggesting that you preserve your SVU innocence as long as you can because it will affect you. You want to know how I can put it away, like I said, often i can't. and that could be you. You have the luxury of avoiding the worst part of this job. I don't have that luxury at all and you can trust me when I tell you that there are nights where I lay down in my bed but sleep eludes me. And it's something I wouldn't want someone like you to know anything about."

"Some one like me?" Alex bristled, "What does that mean?"

Liv reached over and took the attorney's hand, "I mean that you're very beautiful, and there's a fire in your eyes that I wouldn't want to see tarnished by the ugliest part of human nature."

Shocked to her core, her hand clenched gently under Benson's, The detective was being protective, not insulting. The thought made Alex's heart skip, as did the contact of her hand in Olivia's. Her mind raced and caught up with the last sentence, Benson was hitting on her.

Alex's eyes widened and she pulled her hand out of Olivia's. "Um, thank you for the advice."

Before either could respond, Liv's phone rang. She dug it out of her jacket and answered it, "Benson."

She listened for a second. "No I'm at Dimitri's with ADA Cabot... Yeah. On the way." She hung up and looked towards the blonde. "I've got to go."

Alex stood up as Liv dropped a few bills on the table.

"I got lunch, but if you could call me with the verdict, I'd appreciate it."

"Should I call a cab to get me back to the courthouse?"

"No I'll take you back." Liv lead the way out but with a gentle hand on small of the ADA's back.

Ten minutes later, Alex climbed out of the car. "Thank you for lunch, it was great."

"I should be getting off after six," Liv said huskily. "Can I take you to the best Italian restaurant in Little Italy?"

Again she was surprised. Clearly Benson didn't have an issue expressing her interests. She was about to say yes when an image of Elliot stabler came to mind.

"Detective, although I appreciate your flattering invitation. I'm not a lesbian."

Liv smiled. "Of course. Call me on that verdict, please."

She switched on the lights again and disappeared into the midday traffic.

Alex stared. She had the impression that Benson saw right through her lie.

A cop with a loud mouth partner. Get a grip, Alex. You might as well lead the LGBT parade right into Times Square.

But thoughts of those mocha brown eyes haunted her.