The Blonde Leading the Blind
This is what happend when I was supposed to be working on that last part for "Gettin Lucky" (not the final part, the part I just posted) Anyway, this was inspired by a group that my mom is actually a part of.
For as long as anyone could remember, the detectives of the Special Victims Unit went out for drinks every Friday night. It was a celebration of surviving another week with the unit without actually killing a perp for what he had done to a child. When she had joined the group as the Assistant District Attorney for the squad, Alex Cabot would only join them on occasion. It wasn’t until she had felt herself becoming attracted to Olivia Benson, the only female detective in the squad, that Alex made it a point every week. After all, she survived the week too.
A few months ago, however, Olivia had had an excuse to miss drink night. Much to Alex’s dismay, the guys had started teasing her about having a man on the side. Had Alex been with the squad longer she would have realized how untrue that was. All Olivia would do in response was smile and calmly reply "You guys know you’re the only men in my life." The boys would all laugh and file out to go to one of the few bars they frequented.
One Thursday night, as Alex was leaving for home, she noticed a light on through the window of the 1-6 squad room. Having a good idea of who it might be, Alex decided she was curios enough now to try and get some answers.
Alex strode through the doors of the precinct and saw Olivia hunched over her desk filling out and filing paper work. She made her way towards the desk, the clicking of her heels alerting the detective to her presence. Alex set her attaché on the ground, near Olivia’s desk. Olivia looked up and smiled at the young ADA.
"Hey, Alex. What brings here so late?" Olivia asked.
"Actually, I was just on my way home and I saw the light on in here. I thought I would drop in and see who was crazy enough to still be working this late," Alex smiled.
"That would be me," Olivia chuckled. "Just trying to get caught up on some paper work."
Realizing that, if given the chance, Olivia would stay for as long as it took to get her work done. She decided she would try and get her out of the precinct, and then start to work the information out of her. "Olivia, would you like to join me for dinner?" Alex asked. "I haven’t eaten yet and I’m sure you haven’t either."
Olivia smiled. She had also become attracted to the other woman, but their schedules were so full that she never got the chance to try and get to know her outside of a work setting. She was thankful that one such setting was presenting itself now. "You know what?" she replied. "I think that would be a great idea. This isn’t anything I can’t finish up tomorrow." Olivia stood up and grabbed her coat. Smiling Alex led them out of the precinct.
They ended up going to a nice little Italian restaurant, one that it seemed not many people knew about. As they ate, they talked about everything and nothing. Each found it easier to converse with the other than they thought would be possible. They also learned they had a lot in common.
When they had finished their meals, Olivia offered to walk Alex home. Not wanting to part company just yet Alex accepted. On the walk the continued to talk about various subjects. At Alex’s apartment building, the young blonde turned to say goodnight. "I had a lot of fun tonight," Alex started. "We should do it again."
"I so too," Olivia agreed.
"Will you be going with the rest of the squad for drinks tomorrow?" Alex asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately I can’t," Olivia responded. The slightly disappointed look on the counselor’s face encouraged her to continue. "But you’re more than welcome to join me tomorrow night."
Alex smiled. She was finally going to see where the mysterious Detective Benson spent her Friday nights. "And what would we be doing?" She was fishing for the information and they both knew it.
Olivia smiled at the attempt. "Why don’t you meet me down at the precinct at about 7:30 tomorrow night and I’ll tell you about it on the way?"
Reluctantly, Alex agreed. They said their goodbyes, both looking forward to the following evening.
7:30 on the dot, Alex walked once more into the precinct. This time, however, Olivia was sitting back, patiently awaiting her arrival. "Good evening, Detective," Alex smiled.
"Evening, Counselor. You ready to go?" Olivia replied.
"That depends. Are you going to tell me where we are going?" Alex smirked.
Olivia laughed. "Come on. Let’s get going and I’ll fill you in." They exited the precinct and took off in the direction of the local community center.
"Not long after I joined the squad, a kid, no more than twenty-one, came into the precinct to report that her stepfather had been molesting her since she was five. Her name was Anne King. I took her to the hospital to get checked and she took all of the pills they thought she would need to take to counter act any STDs. Her stepdad went away for ten years," Olivia began. "Anyway, a couple of months ago I ran into Anne again. I started to ask her how she had been, but I noticed that she was carrying a cane for the partially blind with her. When I asked her what happened she nearly broke down in tears. Anne told me that the bastard had ruined her life and she had an undetected case of syphilis. Because it had gone untreated for so long, her eyesight had become affected. The treatments she was able to undergo have cleared it up, but Anne will never regain what she lost of her sight."
Alex gasped. "That’s horrible."
"That’s what I thought too. Then I wondered how many people something like this has happened to. The two of us set about looking for anyone who fit into this group and who might benefit from talking to someone about it. We have been meeting every Friday for the past three months. We don’t only talk with victims of an assault who have had to go through this, but also people who are losing their sight due to genetics or natural causes," Olivia explained.
"What exactly do you guys do though? I mean besides talk about how this has affected everyone." Alex asked, intensely curious about what she was hearing.
"We are a group of blind and low vision individuals, along with their friends and family. We meet socially and try to help meet the needs of both the low visioned and their supporters. Sharing what works for both the blind and their friends is a key aspect. We also bring in speakers with ideas and aid to make daily living easier. Our main goal, however, is to inform, educate and empower our members to live life to the fullest.
"You mean you’ve spent your Friday nights talking with people who are already or are becoming visually impaired, instead of go out for drinks with you friends?" Alex asked.
Olivia nodded. "I like to know I’m helping."
Alex knew that in that moment something had changed. This was just attraction anymore. Now it was more like attraction, admiration, respect, and maybe even love. Without even thinking about it, Alex leaned forward to catch the brunette’s in a soft kiss.
Pulling away slowly, Olivia looked into Alex eyes, trying to read what had just happened. "What was that for?" she asked Alex softly.
Alex gave Olivia a small smile in return. "You are an amazing person, Olivia Benson. We’ll talk about this later," she said, gesturing between the two of them. "But right now I believe we have a meeting to get to. I wonder if my mother and some of her friends would be willing to through a charity event…" Alex entered the building while she continued to mutter off idea’s that might be useful.
Olivia just watched her go for a moment with an amused smile on her face. For some reason she had a feeling she had just lost whatever control she had had in the group.
A/N As i said before this is an actual group that my mom and one of her friends started. If you want more information on the group or want to make a contribution (I know it's a shameless plug. but my mother put me up to it) check out the website here. Also, if any of you guys are from Southwestern Michigan and you want to check this group out for youselves they hold their meetings on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at the Community Center located on Centre St. in Portage Michigan. The next one is on the 13th of May. Just ask for Cindy. Alright, I'm off the proverbial soap box and I apologize for stepping on it in the first place, lol. (Also. I'm pretty sure all of the members of the actual group who are losing their sight are losing it because of natural causes. I through in the assault case to give Olivia a reason to get involved with it.)