Don't mind me, just a girl with a perfectly healthy raging obsession over any angsty show with strong female characters, ideally with a traumatic past. Even better if they never married/got divorced. Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you have any suggestions or just if you enjoy it. I love reading reviews x

Olivia sighed, turning over yet another completed page of paperwork, and glanced at the seemingly unending pile stacked next to her. It was late, far too late, and she was the only one left in the squad room. She was due back on shift in five hours, but her chaotic day had left no time for paperwork and word on the street was IAB were fishing for any reason to investigate a cop. So, she reached for the next page, drank another mouthful of lukewarm coffee and settled back down to work. Outside, the wind howled through the streets, rain hammering against the concrete. The sounds of the storm added to the cacophony of noises that made up New York City at night: cars backfiring, horns blaring, the steady hubbub of people hurrying home.

It always surprised her, just how quickly the paperwork built up. It wasn't a part of the job that had been sufficiently advertised, she thought to herself. She was a cop, not a beaurocrat. Her place was out in the field, helping the victims and putting their attackers in jail. She couldn't help but think she ought to be doing more.

More to help the child whose mother didn't have the time of day for her, leaving her to resort to hurting herself for attention.

More to help the parents whose son had been caught in the crosshairs of a drug ring, resulting in his death.

More to help the survivours who would never get justice, who would never truly feel safe in their own beds at night.

Frustration grew inside her as she thought of all the better uses of her time. In reality, she was just too tired. It had been too long since she'd taken a vacation and the strain of her job was beginning to take its toll. She knew the paperwork was just as important as actually finding the rapists to put in jail. She knew without it, the DA would never be able to prosecute anyone, and she couldn't help the people she tried so hard to protect.

She reached the end of her coffee and realised she'd need another to get through the remaining hour or two of work she still had to do. Refilling the coffee pot, she contemplated ordering some food, suddenly realising she hadn't eaten since Elliot had offered her a brownie Kathy had made for the squad. That had been hours ago. She smiled to herself, thinking of what Alex would say to her. The women had become close friends during their work together, and she was proud of what they'd achieved. It was true that they didn't always see eye to eye, but she knew Alex and trusted that they usually wanted the same outcomes, they just often went about it differently. Having worked more than a few late nights together, Alex had teasingly pointed out her colleague's tendency to forget to eat if she became so consumed with a case, often laughing when Olivia became confused as to why she had a headache and could barely keep her eyes open after just an hour.

'You can't just live off of coffee, Olvia,' Alex would tell her.

She chuckled then, hearing her friend's voice in her head as she poured her fourth cup of coffee of the night. The thought that she was arguably more coffee than woman at that moment in time briefly crossed her mind, but Olivia decided that Alex probably was right, and that if she were here, she would be picking up the phone to order a pizza. It was a ritual they went through so frequently that the ADA knew her order by heart, knew her deeply-held belief that nothing that grew from the ground belonged on a pizza. Pizza should only have meat toppings, or none at all. She'd settle for the occasional mushroom, but only because she knew they were Alex's favourite.

The rest of the squad, particularly Elliot, teased her about her relationship with Alex.

'I've never known you to allow anything remotely nutritious on a pizza before now, Liv,' he'd murmured to her one evening when he'd overheard Alex placing the order.

She'd pushed him away, ignoring his smirk. She'd ignored Munch too when he'd not-so-subtly warned her against dating women:

'Just you watch yourself, Livia. One minute she's staying late to work with you, the next you're paying her half your paycheck so she can have the privilege of living on the upper east side while you're reheating Chinese food for breakfast.'

Olivia was not in love with Alex Cabot.

She wasn't.

The branch of a tree tapping against the window jolted her out of her thoughts, bringing awareness to the fact that she now only had half four and a half hours until she was due back on shift, and the paperwork still wasn't complete. She replaced the pot and turned around to return to her desk when she caught sight of someone stood in the doorway.

Olivia dropped her mug, coffee spilling everywhere as the woman standing opposite her flinched at the sound.

…

She didn't know where else to go.

She didn't even remember walking there.

All she knew was one minute she was in the freezing cold, rain falling around her and the next, she was standing in front of the only woman she could think of to help her.

It was late, very late; she knew that much. Too late, really, for her to be out in the city, but she hadn't had a choice. Last minute, she'd realised she'd left a case file in her office and it couldn't wait til morning. She'd needed it to drop off to the SVU the next morning, and she wouldn't have time to grab it beforehand. Besides, it was only ten blocks.

Alex stood in the doorway, watching Olivia pour her coffee.

She must've forgotten to eat again, she thought. Typical.

She'd spent enough time studying her to know from her slightly sluggish movements that she was exhausted, that she'd been here for too long, that she ought to have ordered some food, any food really, even if it was pizza topped with half a farmyard's worth of meat.

You shouldn't be here, Alex. She's got enough to do without you as well.

She nearly did leave, nearly turned around and fled, but she was rooted to the spot on which she stood. She was frozen. Not by fear. She was too numb to be afraid. She just didn't know where else to go. It just didn't make sense to be anywhere but with Liv. By the time she turned around after taking a swig of coffee, Alex wasn't sure how long she'd been stood there, just waiting, staring into space and thinking, random thoughts popping into her head so she didn't have to deal with what was really happening. She didn't even snap out of her daze when Olivia did see her, only when the harsh shattering of the coffee cup went straight through her, making her jump.

Their eyes locked, concern evident on the detective's face as she looked questioningly at her, like she couldn't quite believe the sight in front of her.