Respect
Title: Respect
Author: crashtwig
Rating: PG
Summary: Another one-shot in the 'Things Alex Has Learned' realm. Alex finds out how Olivia spends her Thursday nights, and her respect for the detective rises to insurmountable amounts.
Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine...
A/N: All of these one-shots are not necessarily set in the same world, meaning they don't all have to be compiled into a single life or world of Olivia Benson.
Alex had been working with the SVU for just over six months when she realized she knew relatively nothing about Olivia Benson. She knew John Munch was a conspiracy theorist, had been divorced four times and had retired from the force in Baltimore before joining the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. She knew Elliot Stabler was a former Marine, Catholic, married, and had four children. Other than Olivia, she knew the least of Odafin Tutuola. She knew he was an undercover detective for Narcotics before transferring to SVU and that he sometimes spoke of an Alisha.
But the fact that she didn’t really know Olivia at all was pushed to the forefront of her mind one night she joined the group for drinks. The invitation had been offered nearly two months before, and Alex had seen it for the acceptance it was and obviously accepted, not wanting them to continue seeing her as an enemy rather than an asset. It was to her great surprise that she actually enjoyed herself, and she continued accepting the offers of their Thursday night drinks, until the offers stopped coming and her attendance was a given.
A month after Alex began joining them, Olivia left early. She met the complaining and gentle teasing with a half smile and a backwards wave. After three more weeks of her leaving early, Alex asked Elliot if he knew what was suddenly taking up so much of his partner’s time. He simply shrugged and asked how he should know.
“Well, you know her better than any of us,” Fin chimed in, making Alex feel much more secure by the fact that she wasn’t the only one curious about the female detective.
“Not really,” Elliot shrugged again and took a sip of his beer. “How well do any of us really know her?”
They were all silent as they thought that over. They all knew she was a dedicated detective. It was rumored Brian Cassidy had told her any relationship she was in would simply be an affair because she was married to the NYPD. They knew she was a caring woman as they had all at one point or another witnessed her comforting a victim or cradle a crying child in her lap. They knew she was strong as they had seen her tackle a suspect on the streets or contain a perp in the interrogation room.
But what did they know of Olivia the woman rather than Olivia the detective? Did she go home to someone at night? Did she prefer reading classic novels or smut filled romances in her down time? Was she a junk-food junky or a health nut? Did she believe in Creation or Evolution?
They were brought from their revelry as Elliot leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “My partner is an enigma. You only see what she wants you to see.”
Alex would have laughed in amusement at hearing Elliot Stabler being philosophical if the statement hadn’t been completely true. Then and there she decided she would find out just who Olivia Benson really was.
The next day at work Alex cornered Olivia over coffee. They had formed a friendship months before; Olivia in fact had been the one to encourage the boys to let the winter pass so to speak. Although they weren’t typically the kind of friends to share gossip, Alex was confident enough in the relationship to question Olivia’s personal life. “Okay, who is it?”
Olivia took a drink of her coffee, an eyebrow raised over the rim. “Pardon?”
Alex rolled her eyes. “Don’t play coy. You’ve left early for the past month. So, who is it?”
“So I leave early, and you automatically assume it’s for a date?”
“Why else would you leave early from a standing date with your friends?” Alex looked pointedly at her. “Who Is It?”
Olivia sighed and rolled her eyes. “Joey,” she said simply.
Alex fought back a snort, but evidently couldn’t stop the words she was thinking from making their way out of her mouth. “Joey? What is he twelve?”
Olivia threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, man. I think you should meet. You’ll love him Alex.”
Alex actually bit her tongue that time in order to be sure no words would escape this time. Oh, I highly doubt that! She forced a smile before answering, “If he’s good enough to take away time from us, I’m sure I will.”
So the next Thursday night, Alex found herself riding silently with Olivia in the back of a cab. After leaving the guys at the bar, Olivia had refused to answer any questions about Joey or where exactly they were going, so they continued the ride in comfortable silence. Alex tried to form a picture of Joey in her mind. She wished him to be scrawny and slightly geeky for her own selfish reasons, but she knew for him to have caught Olivia’s eyes he had to be fairly attractive and if he were worthy of her at all, a gentleman and a sweetheart.
Alex fought back a groan when they stopped not at a restaurant but an apartment complex. She in no way wanted to see Olivia and her boyfriend in such a homey setting. Olivia grinned at her as she held out her hand to help Alex out of the cab. She must have noticed the unsure expression on Alex’s face. “I promise it will be painless and enjoyable,” she reassured playfully.
They exited the elevator on the third floor and walked to the fourth door on the left. Olivia knocked on the door and sent one more grin to Alex before it opened. Alex froze when a young redhead opened the door. She looked quickly between the woman and Olivia who were smiling warmly at each other before they stepped in for a quick hug before walking fully into the apartment.
“Kristen, this is Alex. She’s been questioning me as to where I’ve been slinking off to on Thursday nights.” Olivia said in way of introductions.
Alex blushed slightly as she held out a hand to shake. Kristen grinned as she shook her hand and winked. “Sorry I’ve been stealing her away. She told me Thursday’s were the normal gathering night for the squad, but insisted it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Oh, no. Of course not,” Alex stammered. She was completely confused as to just what it was they were doing there. Olivia had said she was leaving early because of Joey, but Alex saw no obvious signs of a man living in the apartment and that Kristen evidently lived there confused her.
Kristen waved her hand over her shoulder dismissively as she walked into the kitchen. She walked back out with a bag slung over her shoulder. “Alright. Well, I’m sure you’ve got it under control, and I’m going to be late.” She kissed Olivia’s cheek and stepped to the door. “Thanks again. Joey,” she yelled into the apartment, “Olivia’s here.” Then she was gone.
Alex didn’t have to wait long to find out who Joey was as she heard a squeal and clambering from the hallway. A blonde headed blur came from the living room and launched itself at Olivia. “Liv!”
Olivia laughed and swung the child around. “Hey Little Man!” She planted him firmly on her hip and turned towards Alex. “Joey, I want you to meet a friend of mine, Alex.”
He wrinkled his nose and studied her out of bright green eyes. “Alex is a boy’s name,” he stated simply causing both adults to laugh.
“Yeah well, as you can see, she’s not a boy.” She leaned in and whispered to him playfully as she winked at Alex, “She’s still pretty cool though.”
Joey shrugged and hopped down from his perch on Olivia’s hips. “Whatever. Come on, let’s go play.”
For the next three and a half hours, Alex found herself sitting in the floor, watching Olivia play with the child as well as being drawn into the games herself at times. They fed and bathed the boy, and Alex smiled on from the doorway as Olivia read him a bedtime story. She laughed and walked to the living room when Olivia was suckered into reading him another one as well.
Alex sat on the couch, leaning her head on the backrest and closing her eyes. She had forgotten how tiring children could be. She had younger nieces and nephews herself that she enjoyed playing with, but it had been so long, and tonight had made her strongly wish to see them again soon.
She smiled softly. She had never seen Olivia so carefree or relaxed before. It was heartening to see that Olivia had at least somewhere she could escape to where she seemed to have no worries or anything that caused the flight frown lines to form between her eyebrows. In turn, she had never seen Olivia look so attractive. She thought Olivia could not be more attractive than when her care for the victims was showing, or the fierce way she handled a suspect, or how she swaggered when they closed a case, but she hadn’t witnessed the way her smile completely transformed her face and lightened up the room around her before tonight.
She was surprised to hear the sound of the front door before Olivia joined her. She looked up to see Kristen walking in with a tired smile on her face. She dropped her bag down in the entryway and dropped into a chair across from Alex. “How was he?” she asked with her eyes closed as she rolled her neck.
“He was good,” Alex said sitting up slightly. “She keeps him too busy to be anything else,” she said with a chuckle.
“So?” Olivia asked as they stepped into a cab.
Alex turned to her and grinned widely, “You were right. I loved him.”
Olivia smiled and leaned her head back against the headrest. “I knew you would. He’s a great kid.”
“He is,” Alex agreed. “How do you know them?”
“Just a friend,” Olivia said with a shrug, but Alex could tell by her tone that there was more to the story than that.
Over the next month, Alex continued to join Olivia each Thursday night in watching Joey. She learned Kristen was a single mother of twenty-four and was trying to work her way through school and had a single night class every Thursday night which was why Olivia watched Joey for her. She worked as a receptionist at a boutique during the day while Joey was at school and took a single night class every semester. She frequently asked how Olivia knew them and how she came to be the one to watch Joey, but Olivia always seemed to give her an answer that wasn’t really an answer at all.
One night, Kristen returned home early from class. Olivia continued to play with Joey while Alex went to keep Kristen company. After they had been chatting for some time, Alex finally hesitantly asked, “How did you and Olivia meet?”
Kristen looked quickly down the hall before turning back to Alex with a fond smile on her face. “She won’t tell you, will she?” Alex shook her head. Kristen nodded slightly. “Of course not. Don’t feel bad; she’s not deliberately trying to keep you in the dark or hurt your feelings by not telling you. She thinks she’s protecting me.” She continued at Alex’s questioning look. “I was raped nearly six years ago. Olivia was still in uniform at the time and was the first officer at the scene. One of the detectives that came was a total jackass, so I talked to the other detective and Olivia. Then she went to the hospital with me.
“She kept in touch with me after that, checked in every so often, tried to keep me updated on the case. And when I found out I was pregnant…” She closed her eyes and seemed to sink further into the couch. “She held my hand through all of it. The doctor visits, the shopping, the planning. Even when I…” She faltered slightly, and when she finally opened her eyes, there were tears pooling in them. “Even when I had thought I was going to abort. She helped me pick out a clinic, made the appointment, even drove me to it. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even get out of the car.” Kristen went on to tell how Olivia had been her birthing coach, how she had been her rock throughout the entire time, and how she had been such a godsend ever since, always willing to help in whatever way she could. Alex felt tears pooling in her own eyes throughout the entire telling.
And she felt her respect for Olivia grow to an amount she had never thought possible of a person. She had always respected Olivia. Respected her courage and strength and compassion. But that Olivia would be willing to stand by a friend, practically looking her own existence right in the face, as they almost aborted a product of rape without a single word of rebuke, amazed Alex.
And with that respect, Alex felt not just affection and attraction for Olivia in her heart, but love as well.