Protégé
A/N: Same as before, words in bold are a flashback, italics are a character's thoughts.
A/N 2: Over 850 days in the hospital takes its toll, I've needed to focus on my pulmonary and physio therapy.
A/N 3: A throwaway moment towards the end of Chapter 61, will pop up at the end of this Chapter with drastic consequences.
~IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE YOU READ CHAPTER 64: I had to rewrite Chapter 62, if you are reading this Chapter as of July 15th 2024, Chapter 62 was updated. My apologies for the confusion, but my medical status caused a lot of memory loss from earlier this year, as such I had to go back and correct a couple things.~
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, except the ones I created, but anyways I just borrow the ones DW created from time to time.
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Chapter 64
Monday July 8th 2013, Special Victim's Unit, 16th Precinct, Manhattan
Olivia peeked out at the bullpen through the blinds in her office window, making a mental note to ask the hospitality manager to give her shutters a good cleaning.
She was slightly surprised to see Munch actually working, she thought he would be hovering over his niece. Instead she could see Nick sitting beside Jet, clearly trying to show his new partner how to use their computer system. Olivia had a feeling that the younger woman would pick it up quickly, the millennial generation seemed to have a knack for electronics of all kinds.
As her eyes scanned the room they locked onto a pair of familiar blue orbs, that quickly looked away.
Olivia took a step back and sighed, looking up at the ceiling in her office, again wondering how everything changed so quickly in the matter of hours on the past weekend.
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Fiday July 5th, Detective Tutuola's Apartment
"Olivia, you look as goo-"
"Cut the crap Agent Porter," she cut him off as his eyes scanned her body, she worried constantly that someone would notice her new curves, even if she had purposely chosen her clothes for the party with her burgeoning belly, and heat of the summer, in mind.
"That's Sargent Porter technically, but nevertheless Olivia-"
"How long has he been working for you?" Olivia ignored the man and turned her attention to the shorter woman beside her.
Dana bit her lip, "It's been a minute or two, besides Porter made it seem like the two of you got along-"
This time it was Dean clearing his throat, "You know ladies we are all adults here, this is a social event, you could call me Dean."
Olivia whipped her head back towards the man, "We," she emphasized by flicking her finger back and forth between herself and Dana, "Are here at a social event, you were not only not invited, but you are in fact here in a professional capacity."
She finished her statement by glancing down at the obvious badge shining on his belt.
Dean reached out and wrapped his fingers around her bicep, "Olivia please, just give me a few minutes-"
"Oh would you look at that, Amanda's back and she needs my help," Olivia shook off his hand, using the blonde detectives entrance as an excuse to get away from the Sargent.
Olivia made a beeline to the kitchen, as she had clocked her friend carrying a large box quickly across the apartment.
"Hey you find everything?" Olivia whispered loudly.
"What?" Amanda jumped. "Find? I didn't find anything."
Olivia quirked an eyebrow, "I meant the cake? Everything go okay in my apartment?"
"Oh um mmhm, got it, I messaged Fin, he's giving the boys a little game room tour, said he'll bring them out in a minute," Amanda explained, while sliding Olivia's keys back to her.
"Great, need any help?" Olivia offered, stepping closer.
"Nooo nope, no I'm good I'm great I got it, how bout you, you good? Why don't you grab a glass of champagne, I think Melinda is passing them around," Amanda tipped her head in the direction of the main living area where everybody was congregated.
"Ahhh, yes I'll definitely do that," Olivia turned to walk back into the congested space. Every where she went she felt like she was avoiding something, or someone, she couldn't wait to disclose.
Olivia took the champagne from Melinda, but the moment her friend had moved on, she discreetly poured the bubbly liquid into a plant on Fin's windowsill, hoping the owner would forgive her if it happened to die, she didn't know if one glass was deadly for a plant.
It wasn't long before Fin's bedroom door opened and they guys came out. Olivia knew that Fin had turned his walk-in closet into some kind of decked out game room.
Both men were elated to see the slab cake with congratulations written in icing. Clapping each other on the back, Carisi and Stabler grinned widely and blew out the candles.
Toasts were made.
As Captain Olivia spoke up, but tried to keep her words general, applying them to both men.
There were so many more words that Olivia wanted to say but she wasn't stupid. There was only so much she could safely say in a room full of their coworkers, and there was only so much she could safely say without her hormones going crazy either.
Amanda noticed the range of emotions flicking across her Captain's face, and she too couldn't take much more.
"Hey, can I steal you away for a couple minutes?" Amanda asked, when people began eating cake and talking amongst themselves once again.
She barely waited 2 seconds after securing the lock on the bedroom door before the words flew from her mouth, "Sonny, oh my gosh!"
"Rollins?" Carisi pulled back. He was in the process of wrapping his body around his girlfriend, thinking she had basically pulled him into Fin's bedroom for a moment alone, but the tone of her voice broke through his inebriated state.
"She's pregnant!" Amanda exclaimed in a harsh whisper.
"Wh-wh-whooo?" Carisi asked as he leaned back, his butt perched on the low dresser.
He placed his hands on Amanda's hips, pulling her in between his legs. She had covered her face with her hands, so her words were slightly muffled.
"She, her, Oh-oh-livia, Jesus Christ! Captain's pregnant!" Amanda voice was indescribable.
Carisi gaped, his mouth opening and closing a few times, though no words were spoken.
Amanda dropped her hands to his chest.
"Ho-how?" Carisi asked through a breathy exhale.
Amanda gave him a questioning look.
"No no!" Carisi shook his head, then stopped when the movement made his head spin, "No, I mean how do you know?"
Amanda took a deep breath, and began recounting everything with the cake and what happened afterwards.
"Woah," Sonny said when his girlfriend had finished telling him about her accidental findings.
"Yeah, I can barely look at her, should I say something? I shouldn't say something? Jesus I don't know what to-"
-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-
"Need the bathroom!" someone yelled from the other side of the bedroom door.
"Fuck sakes," Amanda groaned but opened the door, cringing as she saw a patrol officer SVU often worked with, stumbling to the bathroom on the other side of the bedroom, before he emptied the contents of his stomach.
"Damn!" Carisi moaned, "I really need to pee."
Amanda grabbed the side of his face, "Not. A. Word."
Locking eyes they both nodded in agreement.
"You might wanna cross your legs hunny, sounds like he may be a while," Amanda pointed with her thumb over her back as she walked out of Fin's bedroom.
Carisi paced back and forth a couple of times before he nearly ran into someone else.
"Ah Sonny sorry, I was looking for Amanda, I thought I saw her come in here," Olivia explained as the two of them stabilized themselves from accidentally colliding together.
There was a loud hacking sound which made Olivia recoil too.
"Yeah," Carisi nodded, "And I'm about to wet myself here, really regretting those beers now Cap."
"Sounds like that's not ending anytime soon… Here, take my keys, relieve yourself before you make a really bad impression in front of your new boss," Olivia joked while dangling the keys Amanda had just returned to her, in front of him.
Carisi seemed to stare at the shiny metals clinking together for a few moments, before snatching them from her hand.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you…" Olivia heard as he rushed from the room.
She was just about to head back to the main party when she felt someone tug on her elbow, pulling her into Fin's game room.
"What the hell? Dean I swear to God, now is not the time," Olivia pressed against the other person, dislodging their grip on her bare arm.
The lights flicked on, giving the room a dark reddish glow, the mood suddenly felt ominous. Olivia wondered how on earth Fin could spend hours in a room like that.
See a long blonde mane of hair Olivia relaxed slightly, until she heard the words that her friend, and colleague directed at her.
"You're pregnant?!" Amanda's eyes were squinted, she looked confused, yet accusingly at the same time.
Olivia was shocked. Of all the people that knew and accidentally found out, Amanda hadn't been one of them.
"Whaaaat?" Olivia coughed, she was flabbergasted.
Amanda crossed her arms over her chest, "How far along are you?"
This time it was Olivia's turn to cover her chest with her arms.
"It's recent," she admitted, "But besides that, how did you know?!"
Amanda bit her lip, content that Olivia hadn't tried to lie to her.
"Shit Liv, I'm sorry," Rollins began, then went on to explain that she had just been looking for some candle for the cake, when she accidentally saw her prenatal vitamins, and recognized the box.
"I really am sorry Olivia, I didn't mean to find out, especially like th-"
"What do you mean you recognized the container prenatal vitamins come in?" Olivia interrupted the slightly younger blonde.
July 5th 2013, Captain Olivia Benson's Apartment
It took him three tries but Sonny was finally able to open the door to his Captain's or ex-Captain's apartment. He dropped her keys in the bowl beside the door.
"Stay!" he pointed at the keys in the bowl, giving them a firm look, as if they were likely to jump out and go for a walk on their own.
"Why do women's apartments always smell so good!"
Carisi had been to Olivia's apartment many times, and he was thankful he knew the layout, as he made a beeline for her bathroom.
"God that felt good, thank you Lord," Carisi praised as he began washing his hands after he had drained his bladder.
He started whistling, chuckling slightly to himself as he recalled what his girlfriend had recently told him, while he looked in the mirror, and all around him.
"Pregnant. Pregnant. Cap? Naw no way, 'Manda must've been…"
Carisi trailed off as his hazy blue eyes landed on something in the reflection of the mirror. On the far side of the bathroom sat his Captain and friend's clothes hamper. And right there resting on top was a shirt Sonny knew he had seen before, a marines shirt with the name STABLER printed across the back.
"Shit."
Sonny knew in that moment that he was either too drunk, or not drunk enough for this new piece of evidence.
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Monday July 8th 2013, Special Victim's Unit, 16th Precinct, Manhattan
Olivia glanced down at her blackberry, her finger hovered over the keypad, a blackberry messenger conversation filled the screen.
OBenson: I know it's your first day in your new unit but please, we need to talk.
Olivia pressed send, she could only hope the receiver would reply sometime soon. She didn't have much time to worry about her troubles because her work phone rang instead, plunging her head back into the job she was suppose to be doing.
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A/N: I'm really relearning my own stories and how to write again. If anyone does bother to read this or continue to read this, I appreciate it more than you can ever know. I didn't want to post for the sake of posting, so I took my time and re read my own story. Trust me you didn't want me going off of the notes app on my phone lol. I know I've been on pain meds but wow there's some weird shit in there.
A/N 2: A short update, I had a pulmonary embolism back in January. The damage was… and the medications I've had to take since had a couple nasty side effects, one of which is I remember very little from the end of January to early April. With that being said (I'm off those meds now) I had watched maybe 3 episodes of SVU/OT but now I have no memory of them. I do plan to catch up, I can't wait, but until then, no spoilers in the comments please
A/N 3: If 13 broken vertebrae, and a pulmonary embolism aren't enough, I also just tore my Achilles… I'm doing my best with physiotherapy, so please give me some time. I don't know how people can update stories every day, although I will say, reviews certainly can encourage writers. 3