More Than Friends

Aug 02, 2008 08:35

Pairing:  A/O, A/S
Disclaimer:  I own nothing.  These characters belong to Dick Wolf.
Spoilers: None
Summary:  What if one dinner could change everything?

*Note:  I just wanted to say thanks for all the feedback.  Your enthusiasm makes me want to keep writing.  Here is the next installment to the story.  I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 11

-One Week Later-

Serena checked the address once again to make sure she was at the right place. She glanced up at the sign before going inside. “Mallony’s This has to be it.” She made her way in and over to the bar. There was a blonde wiping it down. She smiled when they made eye contact. The woman looked distinctly familiar to Serena, but she didn’t know why.

“Hi. I’m Serena Southerlyn. Abbie Carmichael asked me to come down to speak with Charlie?”

“Oh yeah. I always call Tex when she’s had too much.”

Serena frowned. She wasn’t sure what was going on. All she knew was that she had gotten a phone call from Abbie’s assistant telling her that Abbie was in the middle of an important meeting and needed Serena’s help. She was driving through the tunnel when she’d gotten the call and only heard part of it. Luckily, she’d gotten the address and the instructions to come down here and take care of things with Charlie.  The rest was still a mystery.

Sensing Serena’s confusion, the bartender extended her hand. “I’m Charlene, by the way. Everybody calls me Charlie. Like I said, I always call Abbie when Olivia’s had too much or vice versus. Those two are very adamant about not letting the other leave here drunk; not even in a cab. I would have taken her myself, but I’m the only one tending bar tonight.”

Serena followed her gaze to the back and spotted Olivia Benson sitting quietly staring out the window. She nodded and smiled. “Thank you Charlene. I’ll take it from here.”

“Sure thing… and it’s Charlie.”

Serena made her way to the back and sat down across from Olivia. “Hi Olivia.”

“Serena!” Came a very cheerful but slurred response. “What arrrre you doin here?”

Serena couldn’t help but smile. Olivia was adorable. “The question is what are you doing here?”

“Thas... whad I juss sssaid.”

Serena glanced at the dark liquid in the tumbler. “How many of those have you had?”

Olivia shrugged her shoulders clumsily and grinned. “Alllllot.”

“It’s a little early for getting plastered don’t you think, Detective?”

Olivia shook her head and looked back out the window. Her voice was suddenly very soft. “Makes her voice go away.”

“Okay. Time to get you home.” Serena stood and gathered Olivia’s jacket. “Can you walk?”

Olivia stood on wobbly legs and looked down at her feet. “I gotta assk them. Can you… walk?” She looked up at Serena and nodded. “Yup.”

Serena shook her head and helped the detective into her jacket. Slipping an arm around her waist, she allowed Olivia to lean on her as she walked her towards the exit. She gave Charlie a quick wave as they left.   Olivia fell promptly asleep in the car. Since Olivia couldn’t give Serena her address, she was left with no other option but to take the detective home with her. Luckily Serena’s doorman was at his post and able to carry the sleeping detective up to her apartment.

Once settled, she placed a blanket over Olivia’s sleeping body and went off to the kitchen to make herself some tea. It wasn’t long before the doorman buzzed. It was Abbie. Serena buzzed her in and went back to the kitchen. A few minutes later there was a soft knock at the door.

“Hey you.” Serena smiled as she opened the door and allowed her inside.

“Hey yourself beautiful.” Abbie gave her a quick kiss as she entered. “I guess you got my message.” She said looking at her sleeping friend.

“Yeah. She fell asleep before I could get her address, so I just brought her here.”

“Thank you.” Abbie shook her head and sighed heavily. “Something is going on with her, but she won’t tell me what it is. I’m worried about her? It’s not like her to do this.”

Serena pulled Abbie in for a long hug which turned into an even longer kiss. Abbie pulled back and rested her forehead against the shorter woman. “What was that for?”

“For being such a good person.”

“When I was a complete mess and unable to deal with…my past, Liv is the one who was there. I owe her… everything. I wish I knew what to do for her. I wish I knew what this was about.”

Serena stepped out of her embrace and led her by the hand into the kitchen. “I think I might have an idea what’s going on…” She bit her lip. “… and it might actually be our fault.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Alex hasn’t been herself either; not since our date. She’s not necessarily drinking, but she’s turned into a colossal bitch.” Abbie raised a brow and Serena playfully hit her arm. “If you knew the real Alex Cabot, you’d know that she’s really not like that. I’m telling you, Abbie.  I think this is about whatever happened between them after they left that night.”

“Liv hasn’t said anything about Alex.”

“Neither has Alex.” Serena sighed. “Look, I’m going to tell you something that will probably make Alex strangle me, but I think you need to know this.”

“What?” Abbie was a little concerned.

“Alex has or at least had feelings for Olivia.”

“What do you mean… feelings?”

“Well, she’s never come right out and said it, but… I’m pretty sure that she was in love with Olivia at one time, if not still.”

Abbie’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding me.” She suddenly started to laugh. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

“What is so funny?”

“Serena, I’m about to tell you something that I know Olivia will skin my hide for.” She lowered her voice. “I know for a fact that Olivia was in love with her.”

This time it was Serena whose mouth dropped open. The both sat back in their chairs in silence for a moment. “So you’re telling me that Olivia feels the same way about Alex?”

Abbie nodded. “Yup.”

“But why didn’t she just tell Alex that?”

“Why didn’t Alex tell Olivia.” Abbie countered.

“When she came back, she was going to but…” Serena quickly clamped her mouth shut. She hadn’t planned on telling that part. But it was too late, Abbie had already heard.

“She was going to… but what?”

Serena bit her bottom lip. “I probably shouldn’t tell you about it.”

“Probably not; but if it will help those two get together and stop them from being so miserable, that would be best wouldn’t it?”

Serena considered it. “Oh screw it. I’ll just face her wrath later. Alex told me that she called Olivia when she got back. As a matter of fact, Olivia was the first call that she made.”

Abbie looked confused. “But that doesn’t make sense. Olivia told me that Alex hadn’t contacted any of them. That’s why she was so pissed at Alex. She thought Alex didn’t care.”

Serena shook her head. “No. Alex called to tell her exactly how much she cared, but some woman answered and told her that Olivia was in the shower.”

Abbie groaned. She had an idea who that was. “I’m pretty sure that was Charlie.”

“The bartender?”

“Yeah. She and Olivia are friends. Sometimes Charlie crashes at Liv’s when she closes up really late because Olivia’s apartment is just down the block. They always tease and flirt with one another, but I’m sure that they haven’t slept together. I mean… there was that one time that it almost happened, but Liv told me she couldn’t go through with it. She said that Charlie reminded her too much of….”

“Alex.” Serena finished as a picture of the blonde, blue eyed bartender flashed before her eyes. That’s who she reminded me of.   “Jesus! These two are worse than we were.”

“Yeah and that’s pretty bad.”

“So what are we going to do about it?” Serena asked.

“I don’t know yet, but you’d better make plenty coffee. Liv is going need it when she wakes up and we lay this on her.”

“Oh boy.”

Chapter 12

“This is for the Johnson case. The deal has already been drawn up. You just need to handle the allocution. I’ve already given the assigned caseloads to the others. I need you to keep a close eye on Brian and Billy. Those two tend to leap before they look and I don’t want things getting out of control while I’m away.”

Alex handed over the files to Jim and waited for any questions. “So how long will you be gone?”

“About two weeks…maybe longer.”

“Wow. I never thought I’d see the day that you’d take a break, Cabot.” He tilted his head to the side and looked at her. “But I have to say, I think you should. You haven’t been yourself lately. I’ve been a little worried.”

She stood and straightened her shoulders. “Is there anything else?”

“No. I think that will cover it. I call the number you gave me if I need to.”

“I can count on you to keep this place up and running, can’t I Jim?”

“I got it under control, Alex. You don’t have to worry. You can relax and enjoy your vacation.”

Alex nodded clearly satisfied. She really wasn’t worried.  She’d already talked to Elizabeth Donnelly and asked her to keep an eye on things while she was gone. Although she was now on the bench, Liz still had a lot of pull in the DA’s office. She knew if Jim got out of line, Liz would have his ass in a sling.

“Good. Then I will see you in a couple of weeks.”

On his way out, he suddenly stopped and turned. “Oh, mind if I ask where you’re going?”

“Martha’s Vineyard”

**************

The first thing Olivia  noticed when she opened her eyes was a dull throbbing in the front of her head a major case of cotton mouth. She brought a hand up over her eyes to keep the sunlight out. Taking a deep breath, she finally rolled over and looked around. She saw two sets of eyes watching her intently; one set blue, the other brown.

“Good morning, Sunshine.” Abbie drawled loudly. “Welcome back to the world of the living.”

Olivia covered her ears. “For the love of God, Abbie… please shut up.” She looked around; not recognizing her surroundings, she tried to remember how she’d gotten there. Her eyes fell on Serena who was now over by the bar pouring coffee.

“Good morning, Olivia. How’s the headache?”

“Dull roar.” She slowly sat up on the sofa. “I remember you walking me out of Mallony’s so this must be your place.”

“Very good deductive skills, Detective.” She handed Olivia a mug. “There’s some pain medicine on the table for your headache. You passed out on me before I could get you home. So I brought you here.”

“Thank you. You’re a goddess.” She said grabbing the pills from the table and washing them down with her coffee. “You better hang on to her this time, Tex.”

“Oh, I plan to.”

Serena smiled and sat down on the arm of the chair next to Abbie. She immediately sought out Abbie’s hand and wrapped her fingers around it. Olivia took in the familiarity between them and in the intimate glances. She also noted that both were in their pajamas which meant that Abbie must have stayed over. A gentle smile touched her lips. What to go, Tex. At least one of us can be happy.

Abbie waited a few minutes for Olivia to get her bearings. “Liv, we need to talk to you about Alex.”

Olivia shook her head. “Oh God, please not now. I cannot deal with that right now.”

“You’re going to have to because….” Abbie glanced at Serena for confirmation. Serena nodded. “…there seems to be a lot that you don’t know.”

Olivia looked back and forth between them and raised a brow. She had a sinking feeling that this wasn’t going to be good. “Okay, but I think I’m going to need more coffee.”

********************

Once Olivia had gotten her bearings and more coffee than one person should consume in one sitting, Abbie and Serena had sat her down and explained the entire situation from beginning to end. Now that they were finished, Olivia sat quietly, almost too quietly, on the sofa staring off into space. Serena knew she didn’t know Olivia all that well, but she could tell that this couldn’t be good. Abbie leaned forward and waved her hands in front of a seemingly comatose Olivia.

“Liv? Liv, you okay, honey?”

Serena leaned down and whispered, “You think she’s in shock? Maybe it was just too much at once.”

“Nah, she’s just processing it.” Abbie said. God, I hope I’m right. “Liv…”

Olivia tried to talk, but she was practically flustered beyond words. “You mean she didn’t just… and the things I thought….” She dropped her head and cradled it in her hands and let out an anguished groan. “So all of this… this entire mess… was some big misunderstanding.”

“That’s what it looks like.” Serena added sympathetically.

When Olivia looked up at them, she looked wounded. “Oh God, the things I said…”

Abbie was about to reach out to her when Olivia suddenly exploded surprising both of them. “Fuck me! How could I be so stupid!”

Serena and Abbie sat and watched her pace and yell. After about ten minutes of beating herself up, Olivia flopped back down on the sofa nearly in tears. “She needed a friend and I turned my back on her. God! I had one shot to make things right with her and I go and screw it up.”

“I wouldn’t give up that easy Olivia.”

Olivia gave her a sad smile. “If you knew the things I said to your best friend, you’d probably want to throw me out on my ass right now.”

Serena smiled softly and nodded. “You’re probably right. But... you’re also the reason why Abbie is sitting here next to me right now.” She wrapped her fingers around Abbie’s. “For that I owe you. You said that everyone makes mistakes, right? Well that includes you too.”

“You should call her, Liv.” Abbie added.

“Better yet, go see her.” Serena added. “I know Alex. If she’s pissed, and I believe she is, she won’t take your calls. You’re going to have to make her talk to you.”

Olivia shook her head. “It’s too late for that. I already tried to talk to her. She said that she didn’t want to see me again…ever… and I think she meant it.”

Serena rolled her eyes. “Enough with this already! Do you love her, Olivia?”

Olivia’s head snapped up and she looked into clear blue eyes for a moment. For once in her life, she wasn’t going to hide from it. “Yes, I do.”

“Then get your ass off my sofa, go find my best friend, and fight for her… because I’m sure that she loves you back.”

Abbie and Olivia looked at each other and smiled then turned their gazes to Serena. Olivia laughed. “She’s feisty. You got your hands full with this one, Tex.”

Abbie grinned rakishly. “Don’t I know it.”

Olivia clapped her hands and got up. She grabbed her jacket and belongings and headed to the door. She looked back for a moment. “Thanks… I owe you…both of you.”

Abbie pulled Serena down into her lap and smiled. “Nah. I’d say that we’re definitely even now. Now get out of here!”

Chapter 13

Olivia took a deep breath and headed towards Alex’s office with one goal; get Alex to talk to her. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but she wasn’t about to take no for an answer this time. She saw the same young secretary sitting at her desk.

“Hi, Charlotte. Remember me? I need to see Ms. Cabot. It’s….”

“Important?” The young woman nodded with a smile. “Everything involving my boss is important.”

“So I can see her?”

“No.”

“Look, this can’t wait. I need to speak with her.  If she’s in a meeting, I need you to get her.”

“She can’t do that.” A familiar voice from behind her said.

Olivia took a calming breath and turned around. She saw a smug Jim Steele standing there.   “Why not?”

“Because Alex isn’t here.”

“Where is she?”

“That’s really none of your business. Now, if this involves a case, I’m Deputy Bureau Chief so you can speak with me.”

“No. I need to know where Alex is … now.”

“And as I said Detective. She’s not here, so you’re going to have to deal with me.”

Olivia’s patience was long passed exhausted. She clenched her fist tightly behind her back. “Oh, I’m going to deal with you alright.”

Jim looked at her closely. He finally recognized her. “Oh, you’re that Detective that was here before. The one that Alex said she didn’t want to see again.”

“I really don’t have time for this. I just need to know where Alex is.”

He smirked slightly. “Is this another…personal visit, because I’ve heard the whispered rumors about Cabot. I wondered if they were true. You know, you wouldn’t be the first person sniffing around trying to get a piece of that a…”

Before Jim could finish his sentence, Olivia had him jammed up against the wall by the collar. Everyone in the office stopped and went silent. She spoke through clenched teeth in a gravely low voice.

“Listen to me you short little sack of shit! Alexandra Cabot is not only your boss, but she is ten times the lawyer that you could ever dream to be. And if I ever hear you speak that way about her again, I will shove my foot so far up your tight little ass your kidneys will give me a shoe shine. Do I make myself clear?”

Jim simply nodded.

“Good.” Olivia loosened her hold on him slightly, but kept him against the wall. “Now, since you seem to be stupid, I’m going to speak very slowly. You have exactly ten seconds from the time I finish this sentence to tell me where Alex is.”

Jim tried to regain some of his dignity by not answering right away. When Olivia stepped forward again, he quickly responded. “She’s on vacation.”

“Alex went on vacation?” Olivia didn’t know if she believed him. It wasn’t like Alex to just up and leave her job.

The secretary saw her reluctance to believe so she tried to help. “She left yesterday, Detective. She left me a list of things to do while she’s away.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

“Not to me.” The young woman was trying to give Olivia a hint.

Olivia turned back to Jim. “Where?”

“That really isn’t…”

“Five seconds!”

“Martha’s Vineyard. That’s all I know. Now could you please leave? I have an office to run.”

“Only until she gets back.” Olivia threw over her shoulder as she left.

Brian and Billy were leaning against the wall smirking as Jim fixed his rumpled suit and tie. They barely held it together as he passed by. Once his office door slammed, they all burst into a fit of laughter.

“Oh my God! Did you see that?”   Brian said as tears of laughter rolled down his face. “And to think, all this time I thought Cabot really had him by the balls. Damn! I think I love that woman.”

“Four years at an Ivy League School:  estimated value $100,000. Getting a law degree from Harvard University:  $150,000. Getting a chance to see a sexy female detective make Jim Steele her bitch: PRICELESS!!” Billy finished with a high-five causing them all to laugh even harder.

TBC

title: more than friends, length: ep!fic, author: alphagirl007

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