FIC: "Give and Take," Sam Carter/Olivia Benson, SG-1/SVU
Title: Give and Take
Author: geonncannon
Pairing: Sam Carter/Olivia Benson
Word Count: 8,754
Category: Action, drama
SG-1 Spoilers: "Hathor," "Seth," "Heroes"
SVU Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Rating: NC17
Author's Notes:
Summary: A new, unidentifiable date-rape drug in New York City brings SG-1 to the offices of the Special Victims Unit.
The entry team waited next to the door, the chipped green paint of the walls flaking off onto their bulletproof vests. Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, guns at the ready, moved up to the front of the line and stood on either side of the door. Olivia pressed against the knob-side of the doorframe and rapped her free hand against the wood. "Hey, Mikey, you in there, man?"
"Whozat?" a man called from inside.
"Come on, man, I heard you had the really good stuff. Come on, hook a girl up."
The door opened an inch and Stabler kicked it the rest of the way in. The wood hit the young white kid in the face as it swung back. The team swarmed in around Olivia and quickly secured the kid in the wife-beater. Olivia kept her gun up and ready as she entered the apartment. She swept the kitchen, called "Clear!" to the team and continued into the back hallway.
She pushed open each door she passed until she reached the bedroom. A blonde girl, ghostly pale and dressed in a thin white gown. She was on the edge of the bed, leaning forward as if curious about the noise but afraid to get up and investigate. She smiled beatifically when she saw Olivia, apparently oblivious to the gun and vest.
"Meghan Lee?" Olivia asked.
"Yes," the girl said. Her voice was bubbly, like she was holding back laughter. Her blue eyes sparkled and she inched forward on the bed. "Did he bring you for me?"
"What?" Olivia asked. "Who? Michael?"
The girl's face glowed. "Yes! My master, Michael."
Olivia felt like throwing up. She held out her hand. "Come with me, Meghan. We're going to get you out of here."
The smile finally wavered. "But... where would I want to go?"
"Home. To your parents."
The girl stood and tried to slip through the door past Olivia. The detective was too quick, and snaked an arm around her midsection. The girl kicked and shouted and howled for Michael. "Master! Tell them I don't want to go! Master, please!" She saw down the hallway, where Elliot had Michael Crane handcuffed and pressed against the wall. "Don't hurt him! You're hurting him!"
Olivia held the girl where she was and looked over her shoulder. She met Elliot's eyes and saw that he was just as confused as she was. Olivia restrained Meghan while Elliot and the other cops got Michael out of the apartment.
#
"Where is Meghan now?" Cragen asked.
"Downstairs in holding," Olivia said. "We had to lock her up so she wouldn't tear down the walls to get to Michael Crane."
Cragen looked at the photo of the girl on the white board. "What is this? Stockholm syndrome?"
"She was missing for one day," Olivia said. "I've never seen it take hold that fast, and certainly it wouldn't be this strong."
Fin said, "Date-rape drug."
"Rohypnol just makes people suggestible," Munch said. "There's a difference between a zombie and a devoted acolyte."
Cragen held his hands out. "Okay, what are the other options? We saw the tape. She did not go with him willingly."
Stabler walked in with the lab report held up in one hand. "It wasn't Rohypnol or GHB, but there was a drug involved. We found bottles of the stuff in the kid's bathroom, and the lab found traces in Meghan's system. The lab said it's nothing they've ever seen before. We're waiting on the results of the second, in-depth analysis to find out just what this crap is made of."
"Great. A brand-new designer drug targeting women on the streets," Munch said. "We can't cure cancer, but when it comes to rapists building better mousetraps, we're number one in the world."
"Keep me informed," Cragen said. He looked one last time at the white board before he went into his office.
#
According to the guard, Meghan had finally quieted down around midnight. Olivia went down first thing in the morning and found her sitting on the edge of her cot. Her hands were clenched tightly together, her head bowed and her shoulders slumped. She looked utterly defeated. Olivia let the guard unlock the cell and stepped inside. She sat on the bed next to the girl. "Hi, Meghan," Olivia said gently. "I guess you're feeling better today."
The girl looked up with tears in her eyes. "What did I do wrong?"
"Nothing," Olivia said quickly. "No, honey, you didn't do anything wrong."
"Then let me leave," she pleaded. "I don't want to be here. Where is Michael?"
"Michael... is under arrest, Meghan. Do you remember what happened on Monday night?"
She nodded. "I was at the bar with some friends. I was bored, and then Michael showed up." Her eyes brightened and she smiled again. "We danced. He took me home and we made love. We made love all day and night. And then you came in and took him from me."
The girl was still smiling, but Olivia could see the truth behind her eyes. They hadn't 'made love,' no matter what Meghan said or might believe at the moment. Her eyes gave her away. Olivia said, "Meghan, Michael is locked up. He can't hurt you anymore."
"He would never hurt me!"
"He took you away from your friends. They said that he forced you to dance with him and practically dragged you from the bar."
"It's not true," Meghan said.
"What about that scratch on his face?" Olivia said. "You gave that to him when he tried to put you in his car." She was shaking her head. "We have it on surveillance tape, Meghan."
"You're lying. You're a liar." Realization dawned in her eyes. "You want him for yourself!"
Olivia caught the girl's hands before she could scratch her face. "Meghan! Meghan, stop!"
She was holding tight to both of Meghan's wrists. The girl was surprisingly strong. Meghan shoved her face forward and nearly spit in Olivia's face when she growled, "I'll kill you before I let you have him! He's mine, bitch!"
The guards rushed in and pulled Meghan away. Olivia retreated and waited for the guard to lock the cell again. He looked at Meghan and turned to Olivia. "Are you sure this girl was the victim?"
Olivia watched Meghan drop back onto the cot, sobbing quietly.
"I'm really not," Olivia said quietly.
#
On the small security camera screen, Olivia watched the entire ordeal again. Michael Crane dragged Meghan from the bar, his hand clenched around her wrist like a vice. Meghan was fighting him the entire way. At the upper left of the screen, Olivia could just barely make out Meghan's friends come out of the bar. She knew from taking their statements that they had wanted to do something to help, but Michael was a big guy. They made the right decision to stay back.
Michael twisted Meghan around and tried to cram her into his car. She brought her free hand up and swept it down his cheek. Michael jerked back and then clapped his hand across her face. Olivia winced in sympathy and watched as Meghan was finally shoved into the car. Michael climbed in after her, slammed the door and peeled away.
"Anything new?" Elliot asked from behind her.
"Nothing."
"Huang just got finished talking with her. He says if it's Stockholm, it's the strongest case he's ever seen."
Olivia shook her head. "Something happened to this girl. I tried to get her to watch the security footage for herself, but she refuses. She just turns away. Short of propping her eyes open with toothpicks..."
"It may not be our problem anymore."
Olivia turned. "We got the results of the drug analysis?"
"No," Elliot said.
"What's taking it so long?"
"Roadblock. There were results, but the computer didn't send them to us."
"Who did they send them to?"
"The United States Air Force colonel who is waiting to see us."
#
Olivia led the way into the bullpen. A blonde woman in dress blues stood with her back to the door, reading the white board with their case information. She had a dark blue duffel bag slung over her shoulder. "Who the hell are you?" Olivia asked. She hated the fact this stranger was reading their board. Who knew if she was really an Air Force officer or not? The woman turned and offered a weak, almost embarrassed smile. "Hi. I'm Colonel Samantha Carter. Detectives Benson and Stabler?"
"That's us," Elliot said. "Hopefully you're here to tell us what that junk is so we can wrap this case up."
"I'm afraid it's not as easy as that. You see, the substance you tested shouldn't exist."
Olivia glanced instinctively at Munch's desk. Thank God he wasn't here for this.
"Secret government experiments?" Elliot said.
Olivia rolled her eyes.
"Something like that," Carter admitted. "I'm not at liberty to tell you much else, but it's not something that we created. It's called nish'ta. We stumbled across it--"
Elliot said, "Where? Nish'ta... sounds Russian."
"Classified," Carter said. "The chemical make-up is slightly different than the samples we knew about, but they were close enough that it was brought to our attention. Every sample known to exist of this drug was rounded up and destroyed seven years ago."
Elliot shrugged. "So someone made a new batch."
"Not possible."
"What did you do, kill the guy who made it?"
Carter stared at him and said, "Classified."
Once again, the eyes gave her away. Olivia knew that yes, Colonel Carter had killed the creator. Maybe she had even pulled the trigger herself. But she wasn't fond of the memory.
Elliot dropped the conspiracy angle. "So how does it work?"
"We're still not entirely sure of the mechanics of it. Basically, it's a biological compound alters a person's brain chemistry and makes them highly suggestible. It's not contagious, and it is one-hundred percent curable. If I could have a few minutes alone with Miss Lee...?"
"The cure is classified?" Olivia said.
"I'm afraid so. It won't take long. Once I'm done, she will be completely returned to normal with no ill effects."
It grated on Olivia to grant this woman unrestricted, private access to their victim, but the promise of Meghan being cured was too great to pass up. She let the silence hang for a few seconds and watched Carter's face. There was hope there, a bit of guilt, but no malice. She was honestly trying to help, even if she was gagged by red tape. Carter returned the stare without blinking, without fear, until Olivia relented and ended the stand-off. "Okay," she said. She stood up and said, "I'll escort you down."
Carter visibly sagged with relief. "Thank you, Detective."
They walked out of the office together and walked the short corridor to the elevators. Olivia pressed the down button and watched the numbers scroll slowly up. Carter finally broke the silence. "I really am sorry I can't offer you more information, Detective Benson. But Samuel Johnson once said, 'to keep your secret is wisdom. To expect others to keep it is folly.'"
Olivia nodded. "He also said 'where secrecy or mystery begins, vice and roguery is not far off.' I'm afraid to ask why the military would be creating a drug like this."
"Like I said, the Air Force was not involved in its creation. It was discovered by us, and we did everything in our power to make sure it was eliminated."
Olivia looked sideways at the Colonel. There was something in her voice when she talked about the drug. Disgust, but also something else. Maybe a bit of shame. "You were a victim of it."
Carter's eyes got hard. She stared straight ahead. "Yes. I was forced to have sex against my will." She looked at Olivia and softened her voice as the elevator doors opened. "Believe me, Detective Benson. I know what Meghan Lee is going through, and I know how she will feel when the drug wears off."
Olivia led Carter through the anteroom to the guard's desk. "Colonel Carter would like to speak with Meghan Lee in private." To Carter, she said, "Be careful. She can be dangerous."
"I'll be careful," Carter promised.
The guard stood and walked down the short corridor. Carter followed with her duffel bag. The guard returned, and Carter didn't. Olivia crossed her arms and began to pace. She didn't even make one full circuit of the room before Carter called her name from the cell block. Sure that Meghan had attacked again, Olivia and the guard hurried to the cell door.
Carter was kneeling in front of the cot, holding both of Meghan's hands. Meghan was sprawled out on the cot as if she had been shot. "What did you do to her?" Olivia demanded as the guard opened the cell.
"She'll be all right," Carter promised.
Olivia knelt close to Meghan's head and glanced at Carter's duffle bag. A smooth, black object shaped like a snake's head protruded from the zipper. She ignored the odd tool and lightly touched Meghan's cheek. "Honey, can you hear me? Meghan?"
The girl's eyelids fluttered, but didn't open.
"She'll be fine," Carter assured Olivia again. "Sometimes it just takes people a while to wake up from... treatment... if they're not used to it."
Olivia was prepared to haul Carter to another cell, lock her up and throw away the key, when Meghan's eyes finally opened. She stared at Olivia, glanced at Carter, and breathed, "Where is he?"
Olivia's hopes plummeted. She decided to go for the hard-ass approach. "Michael Crane is upstairs," she said. "He's going to jail. You're never going to see him again."
Tears came to Meghan's eyes, as expected. But her next words were music to Olivia's ears. "Thank God. Thank you."
"Do you remember what happened?" Olivia asked.
"He raped me," Meghan whispered. "He raped me over and over again."
Olivia squeezed Meghan's hand and looked at Carter. The Colonel looked ill, but relieved. She met Olivia's eyes and nodded once.
Olivia hesitated, and then returned the nod. "Thank you, Colonel."
"Sam," Carter corrected.
"Sam. Thank you, Sam."
"It was my pleasure."
Olivia stood and helped Meghan to her feet. It had been two days since they had kicked down Michael Crane's apartment door. With luck, they could take Meghan's statement and have him formerly charged before they were forced to cut him loose.
#
"But why would they name it twice? It's completely unnecessary and repetitive. It's a waste of time and energy, I say."
Cameron Mitchell had his elbow propped on the hotel desk, his chin in his hand and his fingers splayed across his cheek. "New York City... is the city. New York State is the state. The city is in the state. Hence... New York, New York."
"Well, Cam-Cam," Vala said, "it doesn't make a lick of sense to me. Maybe when we get back to Stargate Command, Stargate Command, I'll--"
"Jackson..." Cam whined.
"Don't look at me," Daniel muttered from the bed. He was going over the list of Seth's followers that could have gotten samples of the nish'ta out of the compound before it exploded. It had been eight years, so the trails were completely ice-cold. Having Vala prattle on about some show tune wasn't helping. "You're the one who insisted on singing the song."
"And don't even get me started on the city that never sleeps," Vala continued. "If the city truly never sleeps, then why do they have all these beds around? Hmm? Tell me that."
Cam pushed up from the desk and said, "I'm going to go call Carter and see if she's got anything."
Daniel looked up and watched him walk to the door. "Cell phone...?"
"There's gotta be a pay phone somewhere in New York," Cam said as he fled the room.
Vala flopped onto the bed and rolled onto her stomach. She rested her chin in her hands and shifted her questions to Daniel. "And why do we have to start spreading the news? Did you see all the people out there? I think the news has been spread, thank you very--"
"Isn't there something else you could be doing?" Daniel asked. "I mean, it is a hell of a town."
"What? That's not a lyric."
"'New York, New York, it's a hell of a town'?" Daniel said.
Vala shook her head.
"I'm not singing it," Daniel said as he went back to the list of cult members.
Vala pouted.
#
Meghan gave her statement to Detective Benson while Sam waited in the hallway outside. A glass-enclosed courtyard showed little more than a pair of skylights, but she could see the door of the detective's bullpen across the hall. She sipped lukewarm coffee and listened to Cam's progress report. "Well, just don't sing those songs around her," Sam said quietly. "Look, forget Vala. It was definitely nish'ta. The girl snapped out of it immediately after I hit her with the zat. What has Daniel found out about the former Seth cult members?"
"Most of them are in the wind. They vanished as soon as SG-1 broke up Seth's compound in Washington. The ATF tried to keep tabs on them for a while, on the assumption that someone who joins a cult once will join another." Sam chewed her bottom lip and nodded, despite the fact Cam couldn't see her. "So far, the kids we've been able to find have stayed on the straight and narrow. One made it to the Canary Islands and joined Heidi Fi... Fitt..."
"Heidi Fittkau-Garthe," Sam supplied.
"Right. Her cult. But none of them seem to have moved to New York."
The bullpen door swung open and Olivia looked around until she spotted Sam. "Keep looking, Cam. There has to be some connection. I'll call you back." She closed her phone and met Olivia halfway. "How is she?"
"She's doing much better, considering," Olivia said. "What did you inject her with?"
"Nothing," Sam said truthfully.
"Look, Colonel," Olivia said, raising her voice slightly. "There could be more of this stuff out there on the street. We need to know how to reverse the effects."
"Believe me, Detective Benson. I understand what is at risk here. I can't imagine doing what you do every day. Seeing Meghan like that, and seeing hundreds of other women and girls every day... I couldn't do it. But you need our help with this one. Now, my team is working to find the supplier. It would go a lot faster if you would allow us to sit in when you interrogate Michael Crane."
Olivia looked immovable. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she looked toward the window. She looked like she was about to say no, so Sam tried a preemptive strike. "Give and take. If not for us, you would never have known nish'ta existed. Meghan Lee would still be under the influence of it and Michael Crane wouldn't be in custody right now. We need to have a mutually beneficial relationship on this case. I let you in as far as I could. Now I need you to give me the same consideration. Please, Olivia."
Olivia closed her eyes and relaxed slightly. "You can watch through the glass. Will that do?"
Sam hesitated. "We need information from Crane. I assume you're not willing to cut a deal with him?"
"No way in hell," Olivia said.
Sam said, "Then I'll need another member of my team observing."
#
Michael Crane wasn't a small man. Sam could see why Meghan's friends had been reluctant to confront him. He sat at a scuffed gray table under a barred window, his hands resting on his thighs. His dark hair was mussed and he had three days worth of stubble on his cheeks. He didn't look concerned. Probably because the nish'ta assured that Meghan wouldn't press charges. He figured he was about to be let go.
Sam watched as Olivia walked into the room and dropped a file down in front of him. "You have quite a way with the ladies, Michael," she said. She paced behind him and put her hands on the back of his chair. "Three accusations of rape in the past year. Busy boy."
"None of those charges stuck."
"I wonder why. You like to intimidate witnesses, Mikey?"
"It's Michael. And I always had permission."
"That's interesting." Olivia dropped an evidence bag from her jacket pocket. "That's what the label on your little pink bottle said. Permission. Cute name. Girl cries rape, you can claim you had 'permission.'" She made fists with her hands and leaned forward to glare into his dark eyes. "Meghan turned on you, you son of a bitch. You're going down for her, and for all the others."
Michael stared back at her.
"Tell us where you get your supply."
He shifted in his chair. Bored, not nervous.
Olivia slapped the table with the flat of her hand. "Tell us where you get your supply!"
Michael looked at her and said, "I walk, I'll tell you everything I know."
"No deal," Olivia said.
The kid leaned back in his chair.
Olivia turned and looked through the glass. She nodded slightly and, a second later, the door opened. A big black man wearing a fancy charcoal suit slid into the room. His feet, clad in shiny Italian leather, moved silently across the tile floor. He wore a black fedora low over his brow. Olivia said, "Mr. Murray?"
He nodded once.
Olivia said, "Keep an eye on this man. Make sure he doesn't move an inch."
"As you wish."
Olivia left the room. She joined Sam on the outside of the glass and watched as "Murray" took a seat opposite Michael Crane. The large black man scooted his chair closer to the table and laid his fingers on the nicked surface. His fingers were splayed and his eyes were locked on the suspect seated across from him. Olivia watched for a moment and finally looked at Sam. "Has he asked for a lawyer?" Sam asked.
"He doesn't believe he needs one," Olivia said. "He's sure that he'll be let go because he thinks Meghan is still high on the drug. If he does ask for a lawyer and it gets out your friend here intimidated him..."
"Murray won't threaten him."
"Then how..."
"I'll talk!"
Olivia's eyes snapped back to the glass.
"Hey!" Michael said. "You wanna know where I get the shit, let's talk!"
Olivia glanced at Sam and went back into the room. Murray was already on his feet and passed her on his way out. "He did not move," he assured her with a slight grin. Then he was gone, the door shut behind him.
Olivia walked to the table. "There are no deals to be had."
"That's okay, that's fine," Michael said. He had grown considerably paler in the past thirty seconds. Olivia resisted the urge to look through the glass and took a seat. "Okay. Start talking."
#
Sam and Olivia returned to the bullpen to reveal the information Michael Crane had given out. "His supplier is Dale 'Rasputin' Kohl."
"Rasputin," Elliot said. "Russian."
"He operates out of a warehouse by the docks. We've already got uniforms on the way, but..." She gestured to Sam.
"There's an issue of national security."
"Oh, here we go," Munch sighed.
"My team will sweep the warehouse. We will hand over everyone we find, but we have to contain the samples of the drug we find. We know what to look for. And even more importantly, we're all immune to its effects. I'm sure you wouldn't want a SWAT team rushing the warehouse and immediately switching sides."
"It works that quickly?" Elliot said.
"It takes effect immediately. That's why we can't risk allowing you or your team to handle the take-down. I'm sorry. It's the best for everyone."
Olivia said, "Immunize us, our team."
"The only way to become immune to nish'ta is to be exposed to it. After exposure, it's necessary to wait one hour before administering the cure or else it won't be effective. I assume you would rather not wait that long."
Cragen said, "I don't like this. But I like the idea of purposefully exposing my people to some revolutionary date-rape drug even less. We'll let you take this one, Colonel. A secondary team will be a block away ready to take the suppliers into custody once you've gotten the area under control. Keep us apprised."
"Yes, Captain."
Sam gathered her papers and left the bullpen.
"Sam, wait."
She turned and saw Olivia hurrying after her. She stopped in front of the elevators and let the detective catch up with her. "I want in on the bust."
"I really don't think..."
"I fought that girl, Sam. She was willing to kill me to get back to the guy who had just spent most of the past twenty-four hours raping her. A drug that powerful? I need to be there and see it destroyed with my own eyes. Please. I don't need to have nightmares about other girls being taken like that."
Sam owed Olivia for letting her observe the interrogation, for keeping her in the loop. She appreciated Olivia for not mentioning the debt. "Okay. Give and take works both ways, I guess. And we'll need a representative of the police on the team to make sure everything goes smoothly."
"Thank you," Olivia said.
"I'll clear it with my team. But there's something we have to talk about first." The elevator arrived and they stepped into the car. Sam noticed Olivia's gun holstered on her belt. "First of all, you aren't going to need that."
#
Sam read Daniel's print-out on the ride to Kohl's warehouse. Dale Kohl, alias Rasputin, had moved from one cult to another in the late nineties. He joined up with Seth's a few months before the raid. As far as the SGC could tell, he was one of the few who had joined and remained willingly without the influence of nish'ta. When SG-1 raided the house, he had escaped with a handful of doses. Sam trembled to think what had happened to those original doses. Hopefully he had used it all trying to perfect a reverse-engineered version.
Sam passed the print-out to Olivia when she was done reading it. "The Seth cult was the first contact we had with the nish'ta. Kohl was a member."
Olivia read around the blacked-out blocks of words and gathered what information she needed. "Seth Fargough. Was he the creator?"
"As far as we know," Sam said. Olivia could tell she was holding something back.
"Was that where you were dosed?"
Sam glanced at Olivia and didn't reply, which was response enough. Olivia closed the folder as the Air Force team's rented SUV bounced over a speed bump. It stopped at the edge of a small warehouse with corrugated steel walls. The driver, Colonel Cameron Mitchell, stopped the engine and looked over his shoulder. "This is as far as we go. Your team in place, Detective?"
"They are," Olivia said. Elliot had contacted her a few minutes ago to let her know they were waiting. He hadn't sounded particularly thrilled.
A second SUV behind them carried fully-armored soldiers. As Olivia and the rest of Sam's team climbed from the truck, the soldiers unloaded like beetles falling out of a shell. They advanced with easy efficiency, all of them moving as one entity. Olivia pulled out her 'gun,' the odd, snake-shaped object she had seen in Sam's duffle bag in the cell. She and Sam had done target practice in the hotel's garage. The gun emitted a beam of electric blue light, similar to a taser. She figured it was another top-secret advancement. She had been forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they even showed it to her.
Sam had changed into civilian clothes, jeans and a low-cut yellow blouse under a leather jacket. Olivia couldn't help but admire the way she filled out the jeans. She was staring at the seam that followed the curve of Sam's ass as the Colonel leaned against the front bumper of the truck. She pulled on a Kevlar vest and said, "Cam, Olivia... masks."
Cameron and Olivia put their oxygen masks over their mouths. Olivia hadn't mentioned Sam's lie about her entire team being immune when she revealed the other Colonel would also be taking preventative measures. Sam, Murray, Jackson and the Maldorn woman weren't taking any precautions, but the entire entry team and Colonel Mitchell were all wearing masks to prevent accidentally inhaling samples of the drug. She decided it was better than an entire phalanx of cops wearing masks, but she knew Sam's excuse had been exactly that; she hadn't wanted the cops anywhere near this warehouse until they had a chance to get control of the scene.
They moved cautiously toward Rasputin's warehouse. Sam took point, along with Murray, and set a charge against the door. She checked to make sure the rest of the team was in place, gave a thumbs-up to Mitchell and blew the explosive on the door.
The heavily-armored men rushed in first, followed by Olivia, Maldorn and Murray. Kids who couldn't have been more than twenty were all grabbing for their weapons as the warehouse was stormed. The Air Force's taser guns erupted in multiple beams of light. "One shot per person," Sam had told her. Olivia didn't know why two shots would make a difference, but she wasn't going to question apparently experimental weaponry.
A guard with a 9mm swept around the corner, his back to her as he took aim at Murray, and Olivia fired. He jerked with the force of the blast and dropped to his knees. Olivia rushed past him and glanced down. Out cold. The thing was powerful, it had that going for it...
She spotted Carter across the room, ducking into an office and sweeping it with her own taser. Olivia pressed against the wall and scanned for more bad guys. Everyone she saw, however, was either a member of Carter's team, wearing black body armor or lying unconscious on the floor. Ten seconds and it was over.
Olivia walked across to the office where Carter had disappeared. Dale Kohl, Rasputin, was slumped in a leather chair behind the desk. Sam was standing next to him and idly searching through his papers. She glanced up as Olivia took off her oxygen mask. "Found the timeline of his experiments. Looks like he's spent the entire seven years since the cult's downfall trying to duplicate the nish'ta. He finally got it perfect."
"Where did he spend those years?"
"Seth's cult was in Washington State. We'll have to dig deeper to find out how and when Kohl made the move to New York."
"And if he left a bunch of drugged girls in his wake."
Sam nodded.
The taser fit awkwardly in her holster, so she set it on the desk as she pulled out her handcuffs. She secured Kohl's hands and looked down at the desktop. "Shipping orders?" she said.
"I haven't found any. It looks like he hadn't gotten any sent out yet," Sam said. She scooted a paper over so Olivia could read it. "I found Michael Crane's name on a work order. He was a grunt here. He brought the boxes of ingredients in, kept the place tidy. When Kohl thought he had a workable prototype, he sent Crane out to road-test it."
Olivia relaxed slightly, but kept her eyes on the unconscious Kohl. He was taking longer to come around than Meghan had. Sam caught the look and said, "I punched him."
"What?"
"I shot him, he went down, started to get back up. So I knocked his head into the desk. He's out for a while."
Olivia said, "You could have just shot him again."
"I wanted to," Sam said seriously. "Slamming his head into the desk felt better."
Olivia nodded and looked back at the desktop. "So now all we have to do is compare the amount of ingredients he's ordered, the amount Michael Crane has, and we'll know if anyone besides Meghan Lee was exposed."
"I think we're in the clear."
Olivia nodded and said, "Thank you for letting me be a part of the raid."
"We made a good team, Detective Benson," Sam said with a smile.
Olivia offered a smile of her own. "You're welcome, Colonel. I'll call my people and have them sweep up this mess. I assume your team will confiscate the nish'ta?"
"I'm sure they're already doing it."
They walked out of the office and, sure enough, Olivia saw Mitchell and Murray loading cardboard boxes into the back of one of the SUVs. Olivia called the waiting team of police officers and told them to move in. She also told them to bring two buses, enough to carry the unconscious floor workers and Kohl, and turned to Sam. "So I guess you're headed back to..."
"Colorado Springs," Sam said. "Cheyenne Mountain."
"NORAD?" Olivia said. That didn't make any sense. What interest did NORAD have in a cult or a designer drug? "Well, I suppose this is good-bye."
"Well," Sam said, aiming for casual as she walked Olivia out of the warehouse. "I don't go on very many raids like this. I suppose a celebratory dinner is out of the question?"
Olivia hesitated. She looked out at Sam's team, loading boxes into the truck, and said, "No. If you have the time, I would love to take you out for a celebratory dinner."
Sam smiled. "Actually, I was thinking about taking you out."
"I know." Olivia gave her a crooked smile and pulled a business card from her jacket pocket. "Call me at that number, tonight at seven. Is that too early for you, Colorado-time?"
"No, it'll be fine," Sam said. She stuck the card into her own pocket as she watched Olivia walk away to wait for her people.
#
That night, Olivia opened her apartment door to find Colonel Carter waiting with a bottle of wine. Sam had called a half hour ago to get Olivia's address and directions. She had dressed casually again, this time in dark slacks and a white blouse. She smiled and offered up the bottle. "I wasn't sure flowers were appropriate, so..."
"It's fine," Olivia said. She had been as unsure as Sam as to the nature of their get-together. They had planned a celebratory dinner, but Olivia found it easier not to make assumptions. Sometimes a dinner was just a dinner. Especially with a military officer. So she had stayed casually dressy in nice black jeans and a black blouse. She stepped back and took the wine as Sam entered the apartment.
"How is Kohl's case shaping up?" Sam asked. She subtly took in the layout of the apartment as she shed her coat.
"Very well," Olivia said. "Casey - Casey Novak, that's the ADA - says that all of Rasputin's lackeys are falling all over themselves to flip on him."
Sam walked toward the living room window. "They were probably all under the influence of the nish'ta," Sam said. "Once the effects were reversed, they realized he had been using them the entire time. He probably didn't even pay them; they were willing to work for free while under his control."
Olivia joined Sam at the window. "It would be nice to have a couple of those tasers your team used. Shoot first and ask questions later, no harm done."
"Sorry. They're still years away from making them public."
"Something to do with that 'never shoot anyone twice' rule?"
Sam nodded. "Something, yeah."
"Do you ever give a straight answer, Colonel?"
"Straight isn't exactly my thing," Sam said. She looked down at the wine in Olivia's hand. "So. A drink before we go?"
"Why don't we just stay in?" Olivia said. "I can order from that Chinese place down the street..."
Sam looked at her and took a moment to decide what she was saying. She looked out at the street and said, "Are you really all that hungry?"
Olivia arched an eyebrow.
Sam closed the distance between them with one step and put her hand on Olivia's cheek. Olivia kept her eyes open and locked on Sam's as she turned into the caress. She opened her mouth and felt Sam's thumb brush her bottom lip. Sam moved her hand back, into Olivia's hair, and used pressure from her fingers to tilt Olivia's head back. Sam stepped closer and walked Olivia backwards to the wall.
Olivia stopped only when her shoulders made contact with the wall. Sam leaned in and touched her lips to Olivia's. Her tongue slipped out and she used the tip to part Olivia's lips. Olivia finally closed her eyes and moved her hands to Sam's hips. She untucked Sam's shirt and pulled it up, flattening her palms against the smooth, warm skin in the small of her back. She pulled Sam close and moaned into her mouth.
Sam pulled back and gasped. Her eyes were half-lidded, her lips parted as she looked at Olivia. "I didn't completely read that wrong, did I?" Sam asked.
"No," Olivia assured her. She slipped her hands down to Sam's ass and squeezed through her slacks. She was wearing underwear and Olivia was slightly disappointed. Just a little more work to do later... "You read it just right."
Sam moved her hand from Olivia's neck to her chest. She ran her fingers down slowly, tracing the curve of her chest in search of her bra. When she reached the bud of Olivia's nipple, already hard against her shirt, Sam smiled. "Were you planning this, Detective Benson?"
"Planning is overstating it," Olivia said. "Hopeful, maybe..."
"What gave me away?" Sam moved her hand to the buttons of Olivia's blouse. She started undoing them with excruciating slowness.
"In the bullpen," Olivia said. The back of Sam's fingers kept brushing her chest; the touches were electric. "When we were meeting with Cragen. You were still in your dress uniform. You sat down and your skirt rode up on your thigh."
Sam frowned. "That told you I was gay?"
"That was what made me pray you might be," Olivia said with an evil grin.
Sam returned the grin and parted Olivia's shirt. It was only half undone, but it was enough to reveal one breast. Sam broke eye contact and looked down. Olivia rested her head against the wall as Sam's fingers moved toward her nipple. "You didn't even like me then. Right? But you wanted to fuck me?"
Olivia shuddered and managed to grin. "I've fucked plenty of people I didn't like."
Sam moved closer, her lips hovering next to Olivia's neck. "But now...?"
Olivia brought her hands up, slipped them under the waistband of Sam's pants and shoved them inside. She dug her fingers into the tight flesh of Sam's ass and pulled her forward. Sam laughed and kissed Olivia's neck. She slid her tongue along the dark skin, paused and sucked on her pulse point as her fingers plucked and squeezed Olivia's nipple.
Olivia arched her back against the wall and pushed Sam away with her shoulders. Sam abandoned Olivia's neck and leaned back. "Are you single?" Olivia asked.
"Yes, of course," Sam said. She frowned. "Are... are you?"
"Yes," Olivia said. "There was someone. I lost her."
Sam slid her hand from Olivia's breast. It seemed an inappropriate position for this conversation. She cupped Olivia's shoulder instead. "What happened?"
"She went into witness protection. For about two years. When she came back, um..." She pressed her lips together and shook her head. She looked up and stared at Sam for a moment. "She was blonde. Like you. But completely different."
Sam looked at Olivia and said, "You remind me of someone, too."
"Is she...?"
"She died. A while back." Sam looked down at Olivia's bare breast.
"We don't have to talk about them," Olivia said. She kissed Sam's lips and said, "Tonight is just about us. Okay? No past lovers. No promises of the future. It's just you and me right now."
"Just you and me," Sam assured her. She bent down and captured Olivia's lips in another kiss. Olivia moved her hands from Sam's ass and freed them from the warm confines of her clothes. She pushed Sam back and walked her toward the couch.
"Sit," Olivia said.
Sam dropped onto the couch. Olivia towered over her for a moment, a silhouette backlit by the city outside the window. Olivia was breathing hard, her shirt hanging open as she stared down at Sam. She said, "Wait here." Sam craned her neck to watch Olivia hurry down a short hallway. As she ran, she pulled off her blouse and left it where it fell on the hallway floor.
Once she was alone, Sam began to undress. She kicked off her shoes and yanked her socks off. She frantically undid the buttons of her blouse and left it hanging open as she went to work on the fly of her pants. Her pants were bunched around her knees when Olivia came back. Sam looked up, stunned into silence by Olivia's bare breasts. She had also lost her pants, revealing black or dark blue boxer shorts. She was breathing hard, her dark skin flushed in the darkness. Her hair was wild from Sam's raking fingers during their kiss.
The strap-on was dangling from the fingers of Olivia's right hand. She held it up and said, "So, Colonel. Do you want to give or take?"
Sam was startled by the blunt question, but she recovered quickly. "Take me."
Olivia arched an eyebrow.
"What?" Sam said.
"Nothing," Olivia said. She hooked her left thumb in her boxers and shoved them down. Sam stared at her shaved pubic mound. "It's just that you seem like the kind who likes to strap it on."
"Oh," Sam said. "I do. I love it. But I really... want you to fuck me, Olivia Benson."
Olivia shivered and breathed, "Good answer."
"But I get to be on top." She pushed off the couch and knelt next to Olivia. She waited while Olivia stepped into the harness. Sam took the nylon straps and pulled it all the way up Olivia's long legs. "Comfortable?" She breathed. She leaned in and kissed Olivia's hip as she heard a breathed 'yes' from above. Sam tightened the straps and made sure they were snug but not pinching. Then she moved in front of Olivia and eyed the dildo stuck to the front.
Not too long, thick but not insanely so. Sam licked her fingers and stroked it, rolling her palm over her head before she took it into her mouth. Olivia grunted and thrust gently, her hands fisted behind her back. "That's good, Sam," she panted. She put her hand on Sam's head and pushed her back. Sam scooted back onto the couch and skimmed her panties down her legs. Olivia grabbed the underwear and pants with both hands and wrenched them down and off.
Sam smiled and put her feet on Olivia's stomach. Olivia drew one to her mouth and kissed the toes. Sam moaned and whispered, "That's good..."
Olivia kissed the curve of Sam's instep and looked down at her. She had known Alex for two years before they had started sleeping together. Now, a mere forty-eight hours after meeting her, she had Samantha Carter on her couch, legs spread, wet and ready. She had thought she and Alex had their whole lives. There was something to be said for knowing there was a deadline, knowing that there would be no second chances with this woman. She might as well make their one night together memorable.
She pushed Sam back and moved closer, between her legs, and used one hand to guide the head of her rubber cock to the wet outer folds of Sam's pussy. "Do you want me to fuck you?" Olivia breathed.
Sam managed a quaking, "Yes..."
"Do you want it hard?"
"No," Sam said. She looked up into Olivia's eyes and added, "Not at first."
Olivia put one hand on Sam's hip and kept the other on her new appendage as she moved her knees onto the couch. Sam lifted her hips and settled against Olivia's thighs. "Good girl," Olivia said. She slipped her hands around Sam's waist, linking her fingers in the small of her back. She closed her eyes and sank deeper into Sam.
"Slow," Olivia repeated. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, using her hips to guide her rhythm against Sam. Sam, beneath her, wrapped around her, thrust back with increasing passion. Olivia grunted and Sam moaned in reply.
Sam, still half-dressed from the waist up, suddenly tightened her thighs in a pincher move around Olivia's waist. She pushed with her upper body and pushed Olivia back. Olivia found herself upended, and forced to follow Sam's guidance down to the couch cushions. She was on her back, her feet on the floor, as Sam settled on her lip and sank back onto the dildo. Her blonde hair had fallen forward with the reversal of positions and caught in her eyelashes. She smiled and rolled her hips.
"Picking up the pace, Colonel?" Olivia asked. Her chest was flush, her nipples painfully erect.
Sam chuckled low in her throat and cupped Olivia's breasts in her hands. "You could say that, Detective."
"Fine," Olivia growled. "I can take a top."
Sam stretched out and gripped the back of the couch on either side of Olivia's head. "Oh, really."
Olivia craned her neck and buried her face in Sam's cleavage. She kissed, licked and inhaled the scent of her sweat, lathed her tongue across the almost-invisible freckles and kissed Sam's nipples through her bra.
Sam lifted her hips and then ground herself down against Olivia's cock. Sam pressed her knees deeper into the soft couch cushions and closed her eyes. "Bite them," she breathed. Olivia's teeth found Sam's nipples through her bra and Sam cried out. "Harder!"
Olivia moved her hands to Sam's ass and swatted it once, twice. Sam cried out and her body went still. She trembled once, twice, and her arms went limp. She fell on top of Olivia, who laid a line of kisses along Sam's neck and jaw. Sam finally sat up with her knees under Olivia's arms, the dildo still inside of her. Her upper chest was bright red, her mouth open as she struggled to catch her breath. She reached behind herself and blindly trailed her hand along the inside of Olivia's thigh.
Olivia's eyes rolled back and fluttered closed as Sam touched her.
"Tell me how it feels," Sam ordered.
"Good," Olivia said. She swallowed and Sam watched the motion trail down Olivia's throat. She slipped two fingers inside of her and Olivia shifted on the couch. "Really good," she amended.
"I want to taste you," Sam said. "I want my tongue in you."
Olivia clenched her jaw and moved her hands to Sam's breasts. She pushed the bra out of the way and finally saw Sam's breasts. She pinched and rolled the nipples as Sam had and watched the shockwaves rise to Sam's brain. Her shoulders trembled and her eyes closed depending on how hard Olivia pinched. Sam thrust three fingers inside now and Olivia was losing control. She pushed her hips down to meet Sam's fingers and said, "Sam..."
"Say it..."
"I'm coming... Sam."
Sam bent down and kissed Olivia hard. Olivia's hands left Sam's breasts and went behind her head again. She clenched her fists in Sam's hair and stifled a cry as she tightened her muscles around Sam's invading fingers. "I'm..."
"Shh," Sam whispered against Olivia's mouth. "Sh, it's okay. I've got you."
Olivia moved her head to the side and bit down on Sam's shoulder. Sam withdrew her hand and released the tension in her shoulder. Her arm had been twisted at an odd angle, but it was well worth the dull throb. She brought her fingers up and painted them across Olivia's lips. Olivia opened her mouth, but found Sam's tongue instead of her fingers. That would do. She sucked Sam's tongue and Sam tasted the come she had drawn onto Olivia's lips.
They collapsed into one another with a series of slow shockwaves, like the aftermath of an earthquake. Their kisses grew slow and lazy, tongues retreating and leaving it up to the lips. Sam tightened her thighs and pinned Olivia beneath her, while Olivia ran her hands up and down Sam's back. Olivia finally peeled the damn shirt and bra off, leaving Sam as naked as she was. Sam sat up and looked into Olivia's eyes. "This was just for tonight."
"Right," Olivia said.
Sam kissed her hungrily and sucked her tongue. When they parted, Sam said, "The night isn't over."
Olivia grinned. "I never said it was."
"So what is this, a breather?"
"Yeah," Olivia said. "Breathe while you can. Your mouth is going to be otherwise occupied for the next few hours."
Sam blinked as she finally lifted herself off Olivia's lap. "Hours?"
Olivia took Sam's hand and pulled herself off the couch. She pressed herself against Sam, letting her hands roam the blonde's naked body. She pulled back and said, "Yeah. Hours." She took Sam's hand and walked the smiling blonde down the hall to her bedroom.
#
Sam eased down the aisle until found her row. Vala was in the seat next to hers, legs crossed Indian-style. She slipped past Vala's knees and dropped into the window seat. Vala looked up, smiled at her and then refocused on the flight safety manual she had begged off the stewardess. Cam shoved his suitcase into the overhead bin and said, "Air Force. That's all I'm saying. They have hundreds of planes just sitting around doing nothing. One of them has to be going to Colorado with five empty seats."
"But they do not have peanuts," Teal'c said. "Honey-roasted."
"Neither do these flights anymore," Cam said. "These days it's pretzels or nothing." He looked up and caught Teal'c's stone-faced expression. He backpedaled. "But hey, I'm sure they can find something for you, big guy. Let's go check up front, whaddaya say?" She patted Teal'c on the shoulder and walked him back up to the front of the cabin.
Vala looked at Sam and said, "This says my seat may be used as a floatation device."
"That's right," Sam said.
"Well, if something is wrong with your seat, you can share mine."
Sam smiled. "Thank you, Vala, but I'm sure that won't be necessary. Flights from New York to Colorado don't go over very much water."
"Still, it is good information to have."
"I suppose," Sam chuckled.
Vala flipped her hair out of her face and looked at Sam. "You seem different."
"What?" Sam turned away from the window and met Vala's gaze.
"More relaxed," Vala said. She rolled her shoulders and rocked her head from side-to-side to demonstrate. "Looser."
Sam blushed and looked down at the paperback novel she had brought for the flight. "Must be the change of scenery."
"Yeah, because you so rarely get to see new and exciting locales."
Sam chuckled and opened her book.
"Did you get laid?"
Sam slapped her book shut and hissed, "Vala!" She looked around to see if Daniel or Mitchell had overheard.
"Oh, right, sorry." She sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "Did you 'make love'?"
Sam looked around to make sure no one had heard and said, "No."
"Do you want me to ask again when Cameron and Teal'c and Daniel get here?"
Sam's blush deepened. "I did meet someone."
Vala grinned and rocked back and forth in her seat.
"But nothing happened."
"Well, that is a lie."
Sam frowned.
"You've been walking funny ever since last night... when you didn't come back to the hotel." She arched her eyebrow. "And then you slept from breakfast until we left for the airport."
Sam's ears burned.
"You're not still sore, are you?"
Sam opened her book, cracked the spine and tried to focus on the words.
"Well, hopefully he is walking funny, too. Or you gave him a few good scratches on his back. Right?"
Sam cleared her throat and looked out the window at the dark runway. "Oh, yeah. I gave as good as I got..."
End
Author: geonncannon
Pairing: Sam Carter/Olivia Benson
Word Count: 8,754
Category: Action, drama
SG-1 Spoilers: "Hathor," "Seth," "Heroes"
SVU Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Rating: NC17
Author's Notes:
Summary: A new, unidentifiable date-rape drug in New York City brings SG-1 to the offices of the Special Victims Unit.
The entry team waited next to the door, the chipped green paint of the walls flaking off onto their bulletproof vests. Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, guns at the ready, moved up to the front of the line and stood on either side of the door. Olivia pressed against the knob-side of the doorframe and rapped her free hand against the wood. "Hey, Mikey, you in there, man?"
"Whozat?" a man called from inside.
"Come on, man, I heard you had the really good stuff. Come on, hook a girl up."
The door opened an inch and Stabler kicked it the rest of the way in. The wood hit the young white kid in the face as it swung back. The team swarmed in around Olivia and quickly secured the kid in the wife-beater. Olivia kept her gun up and ready as she entered the apartment. She swept the kitchen, called "Clear!" to the team and continued into the back hallway.
She pushed open each door she passed until she reached the bedroom. A blonde girl, ghostly pale and dressed in a thin white gown. She was on the edge of the bed, leaning forward as if curious about the noise but afraid to get up and investigate. She smiled beatifically when she saw Olivia, apparently oblivious to the gun and vest.
"Meghan Lee?" Olivia asked.
"Yes," the girl said. Her voice was bubbly, like she was holding back laughter. Her blue eyes sparkled and she inched forward on the bed. "Did he bring you for me?"
"What?" Olivia asked. "Who? Michael?"
The girl's face glowed. "Yes! My master, Michael."
Olivia felt like throwing up. She held out her hand. "Come with me, Meghan. We're going to get you out of here."
The smile finally wavered. "But... where would I want to go?"
"Home. To your parents."
The girl stood and tried to slip through the door past Olivia. The detective was too quick, and snaked an arm around her midsection. The girl kicked and shouted and howled for Michael. "Master! Tell them I don't want to go! Master, please!" She saw down the hallway, where Elliot had Michael Crane handcuffed and pressed against the wall. "Don't hurt him! You're hurting him!"
Olivia held the girl where she was and looked over her shoulder. She met Elliot's eyes and saw that he was just as confused as she was. Olivia restrained Meghan while Elliot and the other cops got Michael out of the apartment.
#
"Where is Meghan now?" Cragen asked.
"Downstairs in holding," Olivia said. "We had to lock her up so she wouldn't tear down the walls to get to Michael Crane."
Cragen looked at the photo of the girl on the white board. "What is this? Stockholm syndrome?"
"She was missing for one day," Olivia said. "I've never seen it take hold that fast, and certainly it wouldn't be this strong."
Fin said, "Date-rape drug."
"Rohypnol just makes people suggestible," Munch said. "There's a difference between a zombie and a devoted acolyte."
Cragen held his hands out. "Okay, what are the other options? We saw the tape. She did not go with him willingly."
Stabler walked in with the lab report held up in one hand. "It wasn't Rohypnol or GHB, but there was a drug involved. We found bottles of the stuff in the kid's bathroom, and the lab found traces in Meghan's system. The lab said it's nothing they've ever seen before. We're waiting on the results of the second, in-depth analysis to find out just what this crap is made of."
"Great. A brand-new designer drug targeting women on the streets," Munch said. "We can't cure cancer, but when it comes to rapists building better mousetraps, we're number one in the world."
"Keep me informed," Cragen said. He looked one last time at the white board before he went into his office.
#
According to the guard, Meghan had finally quieted down around midnight. Olivia went down first thing in the morning and found her sitting on the edge of her cot. Her hands were clenched tightly together, her head bowed and her shoulders slumped. She looked utterly defeated. Olivia let the guard unlock the cell and stepped inside. She sat on the bed next to the girl. "Hi, Meghan," Olivia said gently. "I guess you're feeling better today."
The girl looked up with tears in her eyes. "What did I do wrong?"
"Nothing," Olivia said quickly. "No, honey, you didn't do anything wrong."
"Then let me leave," she pleaded. "I don't want to be here. Where is Michael?"
"Michael... is under arrest, Meghan. Do you remember what happened on Monday night?"
She nodded. "I was at the bar with some friends. I was bored, and then Michael showed up." Her eyes brightened and she smiled again. "We danced. He took me home and we made love. We made love all day and night. And then you came in and took him from me."
The girl was still smiling, but Olivia could see the truth behind her eyes. They hadn't 'made love,' no matter what Meghan said or might believe at the moment. Her eyes gave her away. Olivia said, "Meghan, Michael is locked up. He can't hurt you anymore."
"He would never hurt me!"
"He took you away from your friends. They said that he forced you to dance with him and practically dragged you from the bar."
"It's not true," Meghan said.
"What about that scratch on his face?" Olivia said. "You gave that to him when he tried to put you in his car." She was shaking her head. "We have it on surveillance tape, Meghan."
"You're lying. You're a liar." Realization dawned in her eyes. "You want him for yourself!"
Olivia caught the girl's hands before she could scratch her face. "Meghan! Meghan, stop!"
She was holding tight to both of Meghan's wrists. The girl was surprisingly strong. Meghan shoved her face forward and nearly spit in Olivia's face when she growled, "I'll kill you before I let you have him! He's mine, bitch!"
The guards rushed in and pulled Meghan away. Olivia retreated and waited for the guard to lock the cell again. He looked at Meghan and turned to Olivia. "Are you sure this girl was the victim?"
Olivia watched Meghan drop back onto the cot, sobbing quietly.
"I'm really not," Olivia said quietly.
#
On the small security camera screen, Olivia watched the entire ordeal again. Michael Crane dragged Meghan from the bar, his hand clenched around her wrist like a vice. Meghan was fighting him the entire way. At the upper left of the screen, Olivia could just barely make out Meghan's friends come out of the bar. She knew from taking their statements that they had wanted to do something to help, but Michael was a big guy. They made the right decision to stay back.
Michael twisted Meghan around and tried to cram her into his car. She brought her free hand up and swept it down his cheek. Michael jerked back and then clapped his hand across her face. Olivia winced in sympathy and watched as Meghan was finally shoved into the car. Michael climbed in after her, slammed the door and peeled away.
"Anything new?" Elliot asked from behind her.
"Nothing."
"Huang just got finished talking with her. He says if it's Stockholm, it's the strongest case he's ever seen."
Olivia shook her head. "Something happened to this girl. I tried to get her to watch the security footage for herself, but she refuses. She just turns away. Short of propping her eyes open with toothpicks..."
"It may not be our problem anymore."
Olivia turned. "We got the results of the drug analysis?"
"No," Elliot said.
"What's taking it so long?"
"Roadblock. There were results, but the computer didn't send them to us."
"Who did they send them to?"
"The United States Air Force colonel who is waiting to see us."
#
Olivia led the way into the bullpen. A blonde woman in dress blues stood with her back to the door, reading the white board with their case information. She had a dark blue duffel bag slung over her shoulder. "Who the hell are you?" Olivia asked. She hated the fact this stranger was reading their board. Who knew if she was really an Air Force officer or not? The woman turned and offered a weak, almost embarrassed smile. "Hi. I'm Colonel Samantha Carter. Detectives Benson and Stabler?"
"That's us," Elliot said. "Hopefully you're here to tell us what that junk is so we can wrap this case up."
"I'm afraid it's not as easy as that. You see, the substance you tested shouldn't exist."
Olivia glanced instinctively at Munch's desk. Thank God he wasn't here for this.
"Secret government experiments?" Elliot said.
Olivia rolled her eyes.
"Something like that," Carter admitted. "I'm not at liberty to tell you much else, but it's not something that we created. It's called nish'ta. We stumbled across it--"
Elliot said, "Where? Nish'ta... sounds Russian."
"Classified," Carter said. "The chemical make-up is slightly different than the samples we knew about, but they were close enough that it was brought to our attention. Every sample known to exist of this drug was rounded up and destroyed seven years ago."
Elliot shrugged. "So someone made a new batch."
"Not possible."
"What did you do, kill the guy who made it?"
Carter stared at him and said, "Classified."
Once again, the eyes gave her away. Olivia knew that yes, Colonel Carter had killed the creator. Maybe she had even pulled the trigger herself. But she wasn't fond of the memory.
Elliot dropped the conspiracy angle. "So how does it work?"
"We're still not entirely sure of the mechanics of it. Basically, it's a biological compound alters a person's brain chemistry and makes them highly suggestible. It's not contagious, and it is one-hundred percent curable. If I could have a few minutes alone with Miss Lee...?"
"The cure is classified?" Olivia said.
"I'm afraid so. It won't take long. Once I'm done, she will be completely returned to normal with no ill effects."
It grated on Olivia to grant this woman unrestricted, private access to their victim, but the promise of Meghan being cured was too great to pass up. She let the silence hang for a few seconds and watched Carter's face. There was hope there, a bit of guilt, but no malice. She was honestly trying to help, even if she was gagged by red tape. Carter returned the stare without blinking, without fear, until Olivia relented and ended the stand-off. "Okay," she said. She stood up and said, "I'll escort you down."
Carter visibly sagged with relief. "Thank you, Detective."
They walked out of the office together and walked the short corridor to the elevators. Olivia pressed the down button and watched the numbers scroll slowly up. Carter finally broke the silence. "I really am sorry I can't offer you more information, Detective Benson. But Samuel Johnson once said, 'to keep your secret is wisdom. To expect others to keep it is folly.'"
Olivia nodded. "He also said 'where secrecy or mystery begins, vice and roguery is not far off.' I'm afraid to ask why the military would be creating a drug like this."
"Like I said, the Air Force was not involved in its creation. It was discovered by us, and we did everything in our power to make sure it was eliminated."
Olivia looked sideways at the Colonel. There was something in her voice when she talked about the drug. Disgust, but also something else. Maybe a bit of shame. "You were a victim of it."
Carter's eyes got hard. She stared straight ahead. "Yes. I was forced to have sex against my will." She looked at Olivia and softened her voice as the elevator doors opened. "Believe me, Detective Benson. I know what Meghan Lee is going through, and I know how she will feel when the drug wears off."
Olivia led Carter through the anteroom to the guard's desk. "Colonel Carter would like to speak with Meghan Lee in private." To Carter, she said, "Be careful. She can be dangerous."
"I'll be careful," Carter promised.
The guard stood and walked down the short corridor. Carter followed with her duffel bag. The guard returned, and Carter didn't. Olivia crossed her arms and began to pace. She didn't even make one full circuit of the room before Carter called her name from the cell block. Sure that Meghan had attacked again, Olivia and the guard hurried to the cell door.
Carter was kneeling in front of the cot, holding both of Meghan's hands. Meghan was sprawled out on the cot as if she had been shot. "What did you do to her?" Olivia demanded as the guard opened the cell.
"She'll be all right," Carter promised.
Olivia knelt close to Meghan's head and glanced at Carter's duffle bag. A smooth, black object shaped like a snake's head protruded from the zipper. She ignored the odd tool and lightly touched Meghan's cheek. "Honey, can you hear me? Meghan?"
The girl's eyelids fluttered, but didn't open.
"She'll be fine," Carter assured Olivia again. "Sometimes it just takes people a while to wake up from... treatment... if they're not used to it."
Olivia was prepared to haul Carter to another cell, lock her up and throw away the key, when Meghan's eyes finally opened. She stared at Olivia, glanced at Carter, and breathed, "Where is he?"
Olivia's hopes plummeted. She decided to go for the hard-ass approach. "Michael Crane is upstairs," she said. "He's going to jail. You're never going to see him again."
Tears came to Meghan's eyes, as expected. But her next words were music to Olivia's ears. "Thank God. Thank you."
"Do you remember what happened?" Olivia asked.
"He raped me," Meghan whispered. "He raped me over and over again."
Olivia squeezed Meghan's hand and looked at Carter. The Colonel looked ill, but relieved. She met Olivia's eyes and nodded once.
Olivia hesitated, and then returned the nod. "Thank you, Colonel."
"Sam," Carter corrected.
"Sam. Thank you, Sam."
"It was my pleasure."
Olivia stood and helped Meghan to her feet. It had been two days since they had kicked down Michael Crane's apartment door. With luck, they could take Meghan's statement and have him formerly charged before they were forced to cut him loose.
#
"But why would they name it twice? It's completely unnecessary and repetitive. It's a waste of time and energy, I say."
Cameron Mitchell had his elbow propped on the hotel desk, his chin in his hand and his fingers splayed across his cheek. "New York City... is the city. New York State is the state. The city is in the state. Hence... New York, New York."
"Well, Cam-Cam," Vala said, "it doesn't make a lick of sense to me. Maybe when we get back to Stargate Command, Stargate Command, I'll--"
"Jackson..." Cam whined.
"Don't look at me," Daniel muttered from the bed. He was going over the list of Seth's followers that could have gotten samples of the nish'ta out of the compound before it exploded. It had been eight years, so the trails were completely ice-cold. Having Vala prattle on about some show tune wasn't helping. "You're the one who insisted on singing the song."
"And don't even get me started on the city that never sleeps," Vala continued. "If the city truly never sleeps, then why do they have all these beds around? Hmm? Tell me that."
Cam pushed up from the desk and said, "I'm going to go call Carter and see if she's got anything."
Daniel looked up and watched him walk to the door. "Cell phone...?"
"There's gotta be a pay phone somewhere in New York," Cam said as he fled the room.
Vala flopped onto the bed and rolled onto her stomach. She rested her chin in her hands and shifted her questions to Daniel. "And why do we have to start spreading the news? Did you see all the people out there? I think the news has been spread, thank you very--"
"Isn't there something else you could be doing?" Daniel asked. "I mean, it is a hell of a town."
"What? That's not a lyric."
"'New York, New York, it's a hell of a town'?" Daniel said.
Vala shook her head.
"I'm not singing it," Daniel said as he went back to the list of cult members.
Vala pouted.
#
Meghan gave her statement to Detective Benson while Sam waited in the hallway outside. A glass-enclosed courtyard showed little more than a pair of skylights, but she could see the door of the detective's bullpen across the hall. She sipped lukewarm coffee and listened to Cam's progress report. "Well, just don't sing those songs around her," Sam said quietly. "Look, forget Vala. It was definitely nish'ta. The girl snapped out of it immediately after I hit her with the zat. What has Daniel found out about the former Seth cult members?"
"Most of them are in the wind. They vanished as soon as SG-1 broke up Seth's compound in Washington. The ATF tried to keep tabs on them for a while, on the assumption that someone who joins a cult once will join another." Sam chewed her bottom lip and nodded, despite the fact Cam couldn't see her. "So far, the kids we've been able to find have stayed on the straight and narrow. One made it to the Canary Islands and joined Heidi Fi... Fitt..."
"Heidi Fittkau-Garthe," Sam supplied.
"Right. Her cult. But none of them seem to have moved to New York."
The bullpen door swung open and Olivia looked around until she spotted Sam. "Keep looking, Cam. There has to be some connection. I'll call you back." She closed her phone and met Olivia halfway. "How is she?"
"She's doing much better, considering," Olivia said. "What did you inject her with?"
"Nothing," Sam said truthfully.
"Look, Colonel," Olivia said, raising her voice slightly. "There could be more of this stuff out there on the street. We need to know how to reverse the effects."
"Believe me, Detective Benson. I understand what is at risk here. I can't imagine doing what you do every day. Seeing Meghan like that, and seeing hundreds of other women and girls every day... I couldn't do it. But you need our help with this one. Now, my team is working to find the supplier. It would go a lot faster if you would allow us to sit in when you interrogate Michael Crane."
Olivia looked immovable. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she looked toward the window. She looked like she was about to say no, so Sam tried a preemptive strike. "Give and take. If not for us, you would never have known nish'ta existed. Meghan Lee would still be under the influence of it and Michael Crane wouldn't be in custody right now. We need to have a mutually beneficial relationship on this case. I let you in as far as I could. Now I need you to give me the same consideration. Please, Olivia."
Olivia closed her eyes and relaxed slightly. "You can watch through the glass. Will that do?"
Sam hesitated. "We need information from Crane. I assume you're not willing to cut a deal with him?"
"No way in hell," Olivia said.
Sam said, "Then I'll need another member of my team observing."
#
Michael Crane wasn't a small man. Sam could see why Meghan's friends had been reluctant to confront him. He sat at a scuffed gray table under a barred window, his hands resting on his thighs. His dark hair was mussed and he had three days worth of stubble on his cheeks. He didn't look concerned. Probably because the nish'ta assured that Meghan wouldn't press charges. He figured he was about to be let go.
Sam watched as Olivia walked into the room and dropped a file down in front of him. "You have quite a way with the ladies, Michael," she said. She paced behind him and put her hands on the back of his chair. "Three accusations of rape in the past year. Busy boy."
"None of those charges stuck."
"I wonder why. You like to intimidate witnesses, Mikey?"
"It's Michael. And I always had permission."
"That's interesting." Olivia dropped an evidence bag from her jacket pocket. "That's what the label on your little pink bottle said. Permission. Cute name. Girl cries rape, you can claim you had 'permission.'" She made fists with her hands and leaned forward to glare into his dark eyes. "Meghan turned on you, you son of a bitch. You're going down for her, and for all the others."
Michael stared back at her.
"Tell us where you get your supply."
He shifted in his chair. Bored, not nervous.
Olivia slapped the table with the flat of her hand. "Tell us where you get your supply!"
Michael looked at her and said, "I walk, I'll tell you everything I know."
"No deal," Olivia said.
The kid leaned back in his chair.
Olivia turned and looked through the glass. She nodded slightly and, a second later, the door opened. A big black man wearing a fancy charcoal suit slid into the room. His feet, clad in shiny Italian leather, moved silently across the tile floor. He wore a black fedora low over his brow. Olivia said, "Mr. Murray?"
He nodded once.
Olivia said, "Keep an eye on this man. Make sure he doesn't move an inch."
"As you wish."
Olivia left the room. She joined Sam on the outside of the glass and watched as "Murray" took a seat opposite Michael Crane. The large black man scooted his chair closer to the table and laid his fingers on the nicked surface. His fingers were splayed and his eyes were locked on the suspect seated across from him. Olivia watched for a moment and finally looked at Sam. "Has he asked for a lawyer?" Sam asked.
"He doesn't believe he needs one," Olivia said. "He's sure that he'll be let go because he thinks Meghan is still high on the drug. If he does ask for a lawyer and it gets out your friend here intimidated him..."
"Murray won't threaten him."
"Then how..."
"I'll talk!"
Olivia's eyes snapped back to the glass.
"Hey!" Michael said. "You wanna know where I get the shit, let's talk!"
Olivia glanced at Sam and went back into the room. Murray was already on his feet and passed her on his way out. "He did not move," he assured her with a slight grin. Then he was gone, the door shut behind him.
Olivia walked to the table. "There are no deals to be had."
"That's okay, that's fine," Michael said. He had grown considerably paler in the past thirty seconds. Olivia resisted the urge to look through the glass and took a seat. "Okay. Start talking."
#
Sam and Olivia returned to the bullpen to reveal the information Michael Crane had given out. "His supplier is Dale 'Rasputin' Kohl."
"Rasputin," Elliot said. "Russian."
"He operates out of a warehouse by the docks. We've already got uniforms on the way, but..." She gestured to Sam.
"There's an issue of national security."
"Oh, here we go," Munch sighed.
"My team will sweep the warehouse. We will hand over everyone we find, but we have to contain the samples of the drug we find. We know what to look for. And even more importantly, we're all immune to its effects. I'm sure you wouldn't want a SWAT team rushing the warehouse and immediately switching sides."
"It works that quickly?" Elliot said.
"It takes effect immediately. That's why we can't risk allowing you or your team to handle the take-down. I'm sorry. It's the best for everyone."
Olivia said, "Immunize us, our team."
"The only way to become immune to nish'ta is to be exposed to it. After exposure, it's necessary to wait one hour before administering the cure or else it won't be effective. I assume you would rather not wait that long."
Cragen said, "I don't like this. But I like the idea of purposefully exposing my people to some revolutionary date-rape drug even less. We'll let you take this one, Colonel. A secondary team will be a block away ready to take the suppliers into custody once you've gotten the area under control. Keep us apprised."
"Yes, Captain."
Sam gathered her papers and left the bullpen.
"Sam, wait."
She turned and saw Olivia hurrying after her. She stopped in front of the elevators and let the detective catch up with her. "I want in on the bust."
"I really don't think..."
"I fought that girl, Sam. She was willing to kill me to get back to the guy who had just spent most of the past twenty-four hours raping her. A drug that powerful? I need to be there and see it destroyed with my own eyes. Please. I don't need to have nightmares about other girls being taken like that."
Sam owed Olivia for letting her observe the interrogation, for keeping her in the loop. She appreciated Olivia for not mentioning the debt. "Okay. Give and take works both ways, I guess. And we'll need a representative of the police on the team to make sure everything goes smoothly."
"Thank you," Olivia said.
"I'll clear it with my team. But there's something we have to talk about first." The elevator arrived and they stepped into the car. Sam noticed Olivia's gun holstered on her belt. "First of all, you aren't going to need that."
#
Sam read Daniel's print-out on the ride to Kohl's warehouse. Dale Kohl, alias Rasputin, had moved from one cult to another in the late nineties. He joined up with Seth's a few months before the raid. As far as the SGC could tell, he was one of the few who had joined and remained willingly without the influence of nish'ta. When SG-1 raided the house, he had escaped with a handful of doses. Sam trembled to think what had happened to those original doses. Hopefully he had used it all trying to perfect a reverse-engineered version.
Sam passed the print-out to Olivia when she was done reading it. "The Seth cult was the first contact we had with the nish'ta. Kohl was a member."
Olivia read around the blacked-out blocks of words and gathered what information she needed. "Seth Fargough. Was he the creator?"
"As far as we know," Sam said. Olivia could tell she was holding something back.
"Was that where you were dosed?"
Sam glanced at Olivia and didn't reply, which was response enough. Olivia closed the folder as the Air Force team's rented SUV bounced over a speed bump. It stopped at the edge of a small warehouse with corrugated steel walls. The driver, Colonel Cameron Mitchell, stopped the engine and looked over his shoulder. "This is as far as we go. Your team in place, Detective?"
"They are," Olivia said. Elliot had contacted her a few minutes ago to let her know they were waiting. He hadn't sounded particularly thrilled.
A second SUV behind them carried fully-armored soldiers. As Olivia and the rest of Sam's team climbed from the truck, the soldiers unloaded like beetles falling out of a shell. They advanced with easy efficiency, all of them moving as one entity. Olivia pulled out her 'gun,' the odd, snake-shaped object she had seen in Sam's duffle bag in the cell. She and Sam had done target practice in the hotel's garage. The gun emitted a beam of electric blue light, similar to a taser. She figured it was another top-secret advancement. She had been forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they even showed it to her.
Sam had changed into civilian clothes, jeans and a low-cut yellow blouse under a leather jacket. Olivia couldn't help but admire the way she filled out the jeans. She was staring at the seam that followed the curve of Sam's ass as the Colonel leaned against the front bumper of the truck. She pulled on a Kevlar vest and said, "Cam, Olivia... masks."
Cameron and Olivia put their oxygen masks over their mouths. Olivia hadn't mentioned Sam's lie about her entire team being immune when she revealed the other Colonel would also be taking preventative measures. Sam, Murray, Jackson and the Maldorn woman weren't taking any precautions, but the entire entry team and Colonel Mitchell were all wearing masks to prevent accidentally inhaling samples of the drug. She decided it was better than an entire phalanx of cops wearing masks, but she knew Sam's excuse had been exactly that; she hadn't wanted the cops anywhere near this warehouse until they had a chance to get control of the scene.
They moved cautiously toward Rasputin's warehouse. Sam took point, along with Murray, and set a charge against the door. She checked to make sure the rest of the team was in place, gave a thumbs-up to Mitchell and blew the explosive on the door.
The heavily-armored men rushed in first, followed by Olivia, Maldorn and Murray. Kids who couldn't have been more than twenty were all grabbing for their weapons as the warehouse was stormed. The Air Force's taser guns erupted in multiple beams of light. "One shot per person," Sam had told her. Olivia didn't know why two shots would make a difference, but she wasn't going to question apparently experimental weaponry.
A guard with a 9mm swept around the corner, his back to her as he took aim at Murray, and Olivia fired. He jerked with the force of the blast and dropped to his knees. Olivia rushed past him and glanced down. Out cold. The thing was powerful, it had that going for it...
She spotted Carter across the room, ducking into an office and sweeping it with her own taser. Olivia pressed against the wall and scanned for more bad guys. Everyone she saw, however, was either a member of Carter's team, wearing black body armor or lying unconscious on the floor. Ten seconds and it was over.
Olivia walked across to the office where Carter had disappeared. Dale Kohl, Rasputin, was slumped in a leather chair behind the desk. Sam was standing next to him and idly searching through his papers. She glanced up as Olivia took off her oxygen mask. "Found the timeline of his experiments. Looks like he's spent the entire seven years since the cult's downfall trying to duplicate the nish'ta. He finally got it perfect."
"Where did he spend those years?"
"Seth's cult was in Washington State. We'll have to dig deeper to find out how and when Kohl made the move to New York."
"And if he left a bunch of drugged girls in his wake."
Sam nodded.
The taser fit awkwardly in her holster, so she set it on the desk as she pulled out her handcuffs. She secured Kohl's hands and looked down at the desktop. "Shipping orders?" she said.
"I haven't found any. It looks like he hadn't gotten any sent out yet," Sam said. She scooted a paper over so Olivia could read it. "I found Michael Crane's name on a work order. He was a grunt here. He brought the boxes of ingredients in, kept the place tidy. When Kohl thought he had a workable prototype, he sent Crane out to road-test it."
Olivia relaxed slightly, but kept her eyes on the unconscious Kohl. He was taking longer to come around than Meghan had. Sam caught the look and said, "I punched him."
"What?"
"I shot him, he went down, started to get back up. So I knocked his head into the desk. He's out for a while."
Olivia said, "You could have just shot him again."
"I wanted to," Sam said seriously. "Slamming his head into the desk felt better."
Olivia nodded and looked back at the desktop. "So now all we have to do is compare the amount of ingredients he's ordered, the amount Michael Crane has, and we'll know if anyone besides Meghan Lee was exposed."
"I think we're in the clear."
Olivia nodded and said, "Thank you for letting me be a part of the raid."
"We made a good team, Detective Benson," Sam said with a smile.
Olivia offered a smile of her own. "You're welcome, Colonel. I'll call my people and have them sweep up this mess. I assume your team will confiscate the nish'ta?"
"I'm sure they're already doing it."
They walked out of the office and, sure enough, Olivia saw Mitchell and Murray loading cardboard boxes into the back of one of the SUVs. Olivia called the waiting team of police officers and told them to move in. She also told them to bring two buses, enough to carry the unconscious floor workers and Kohl, and turned to Sam. "So I guess you're headed back to..."
"Colorado Springs," Sam said. "Cheyenne Mountain."
"NORAD?" Olivia said. That didn't make any sense. What interest did NORAD have in a cult or a designer drug? "Well, I suppose this is good-bye."
"Well," Sam said, aiming for casual as she walked Olivia out of the warehouse. "I don't go on very many raids like this. I suppose a celebratory dinner is out of the question?"
Olivia hesitated. She looked out at Sam's team, loading boxes into the truck, and said, "No. If you have the time, I would love to take you out for a celebratory dinner."
Sam smiled. "Actually, I was thinking about taking you out."
"I know." Olivia gave her a crooked smile and pulled a business card from her jacket pocket. "Call me at that number, tonight at seven. Is that too early for you, Colorado-time?"
"No, it'll be fine," Sam said. She stuck the card into her own pocket as she watched Olivia walk away to wait for her people.
#
That night, Olivia opened her apartment door to find Colonel Carter waiting with a bottle of wine. Sam had called a half hour ago to get Olivia's address and directions. She had dressed casually again, this time in dark slacks and a white blouse. She smiled and offered up the bottle. "I wasn't sure flowers were appropriate, so..."
"It's fine," Olivia said. She had been as unsure as Sam as to the nature of their get-together. They had planned a celebratory dinner, but Olivia found it easier not to make assumptions. Sometimes a dinner was just a dinner. Especially with a military officer. So she had stayed casually dressy in nice black jeans and a black blouse. She stepped back and took the wine as Sam entered the apartment.
"How is Kohl's case shaping up?" Sam asked. She subtly took in the layout of the apartment as she shed her coat.
"Very well," Olivia said. "Casey - Casey Novak, that's the ADA - says that all of Rasputin's lackeys are falling all over themselves to flip on him."
Sam walked toward the living room window. "They were probably all under the influence of the nish'ta," Sam said. "Once the effects were reversed, they realized he had been using them the entire time. He probably didn't even pay them; they were willing to work for free while under his control."
Olivia joined Sam at the window. "It would be nice to have a couple of those tasers your team used. Shoot first and ask questions later, no harm done."
"Sorry. They're still years away from making them public."
"Something to do with that 'never shoot anyone twice' rule?"
Sam nodded. "Something, yeah."
"Do you ever give a straight answer, Colonel?"
"Straight isn't exactly my thing," Sam said. She looked down at the wine in Olivia's hand. "So. A drink before we go?"
"Why don't we just stay in?" Olivia said. "I can order from that Chinese place down the street..."
Sam looked at her and took a moment to decide what she was saying. She looked out at the street and said, "Are you really all that hungry?"
Olivia arched an eyebrow.
Sam closed the distance between them with one step and put her hand on Olivia's cheek. Olivia kept her eyes open and locked on Sam's as she turned into the caress. She opened her mouth and felt Sam's thumb brush her bottom lip. Sam moved her hand back, into Olivia's hair, and used pressure from her fingers to tilt Olivia's head back. Sam stepped closer and walked Olivia backwards to the wall.
Olivia stopped only when her shoulders made contact with the wall. Sam leaned in and touched her lips to Olivia's. Her tongue slipped out and she used the tip to part Olivia's lips. Olivia finally closed her eyes and moved her hands to Sam's hips. She untucked Sam's shirt and pulled it up, flattening her palms against the smooth, warm skin in the small of her back. She pulled Sam close and moaned into her mouth.
Sam pulled back and gasped. Her eyes were half-lidded, her lips parted as she looked at Olivia. "I didn't completely read that wrong, did I?" Sam asked.
"No," Olivia assured her. She slipped her hands down to Sam's ass and squeezed through her slacks. She was wearing underwear and Olivia was slightly disappointed. Just a little more work to do later... "You read it just right."
Sam moved her hand from Olivia's neck to her chest. She ran her fingers down slowly, tracing the curve of her chest in search of her bra. When she reached the bud of Olivia's nipple, already hard against her shirt, Sam smiled. "Were you planning this, Detective Benson?"
"Planning is overstating it," Olivia said. "Hopeful, maybe..."
"What gave me away?" Sam moved her hand to the buttons of Olivia's blouse. She started undoing them with excruciating slowness.
"In the bullpen," Olivia said. The back of Sam's fingers kept brushing her chest; the touches were electric. "When we were meeting with Cragen. You were still in your dress uniform. You sat down and your skirt rode up on your thigh."
Sam frowned. "That told you I was gay?"
"That was what made me pray you might be," Olivia said with an evil grin.
Sam returned the grin and parted Olivia's shirt. It was only half undone, but it was enough to reveal one breast. Sam broke eye contact and looked down. Olivia rested her head against the wall as Sam's fingers moved toward her nipple. "You didn't even like me then. Right? But you wanted to fuck me?"
Olivia shuddered and managed to grin. "I've fucked plenty of people I didn't like."
Sam moved closer, her lips hovering next to Olivia's neck. "But now...?"
Olivia brought her hands up, slipped them under the waistband of Sam's pants and shoved them inside. She dug her fingers into the tight flesh of Sam's ass and pulled her forward. Sam laughed and kissed Olivia's neck. She slid her tongue along the dark skin, paused and sucked on her pulse point as her fingers plucked and squeezed Olivia's nipple.
Olivia arched her back against the wall and pushed Sam away with her shoulders. Sam abandoned Olivia's neck and leaned back. "Are you single?" Olivia asked.
"Yes, of course," Sam said. She frowned. "Are... are you?"
"Yes," Olivia said. "There was someone. I lost her."
Sam slid her hand from Olivia's breast. It seemed an inappropriate position for this conversation. She cupped Olivia's shoulder instead. "What happened?"
"She went into witness protection. For about two years. When she came back, um..." She pressed her lips together and shook her head. She looked up and stared at Sam for a moment. "She was blonde. Like you. But completely different."
Sam looked at Olivia and said, "You remind me of someone, too."
"Is she...?"
"She died. A while back." Sam looked down at Olivia's bare breast.
"We don't have to talk about them," Olivia said. She kissed Sam's lips and said, "Tonight is just about us. Okay? No past lovers. No promises of the future. It's just you and me right now."
"Just you and me," Sam assured her. She bent down and captured Olivia's lips in another kiss. Olivia moved her hands from Sam's ass and freed them from the warm confines of her clothes. She pushed Sam back and walked her toward the couch.
"Sit," Olivia said.
Sam dropped onto the couch. Olivia towered over her for a moment, a silhouette backlit by the city outside the window. Olivia was breathing hard, her shirt hanging open as she stared down at Sam. She said, "Wait here." Sam craned her neck to watch Olivia hurry down a short hallway. As she ran, she pulled off her blouse and left it where it fell on the hallway floor.
Once she was alone, Sam began to undress. She kicked off her shoes and yanked her socks off. She frantically undid the buttons of her blouse and left it hanging open as she went to work on the fly of her pants. Her pants were bunched around her knees when Olivia came back. Sam looked up, stunned into silence by Olivia's bare breasts. She had also lost her pants, revealing black or dark blue boxer shorts. She was breathing hard, her dark skin flushed in the darkness. Her hair was wild from Sam's raking fingers during their kiss.
The strap-on was dangling from the fingers of Olivia's right hand. She held it up and said, "So, Colonel. Do you want to give or take?"
Sam was startled by the blunt question, but she recovered quickly. "Take me."
Olivia arched an eyebrow.
"What?" Sam said.
"Nothing," Olivia said. She hooked her left thumb in her boxers and shoved them down. Sam stared at her shaved pubic mound. "It's just that you seem like the kind who likes to strap it on."
"Oh," Sam said. "I do. I love it. But I really... want you to fuck me, Olivia Benson."
Olivia shivered and breathed, "Good answer."
"But I get to be on top." She pushed off the couch and knelt next to Olivia. She waited while Olivia stepped into the harness. Sam took the nylon straps and pulled it all the way up Olivia's long legs. "Comfortable?" She breathed. She leaned in and kissed Olivia's hip as she heard a breathed 'yes' from above. Sam tightened the straps and made sure they were snug but not pinching. Then she moved in front of Olivia and eyed the dildo stuck to the front.
Not too long, thick but not insanely so. Sam licked her fingers and stroked it, rolling her palm over her head before she took it into her mouth. Olivia grunted and thrust gently, her hands fisted behind her back. "That's good, Sam," she panted. She put her hand on Sam's head and pushed her back. Sam scooted back onto the couch and skimmed her panties down her legs. Olivia grabbed the underwear and pants with both hands and wrenched them down and off.
Sam smiled and put her feet on Olivia's stomach. Olivia drew one to her mouth and kissed the toes. Sam moaned and whispered, "That's good..."
Olivia kissed the curve of Sam's instep and looked down at her. She had known Alex for two years before they had started sleeping together. Now, a mere forty-eight hours after meeting her, she had Samantha Carter on her couch, legs spread, wet and ready. She had thought she and Alex had their whole lives. There was something to be said for knowing there was a deadline, knowing that there would be no second chances with this woman. She might as well make their one night together memorable.
She pushed Sam back and moved closer, between her legs, and used one hand to guide the head of her rubber cock to the wet outer folds of Sam's pussy. "Do you want me to fuck you?" Olivia breathed.
Sam managed a quaking, "Yes..."
"Do you want it hard?"
"No," Sam said. She looked up into Olivia's eyes and added, "Not at first."
Olivia put one hand on Sam's hip and kept the other on her new appendage as she moved her knees onto the couch. Sam lifted her hips and settled against Olivia's thighs. "Good girl," Olivia said. She slipped her hands around Sam's waist, linking her fingers in the small of her back. She closed her eyes and sank deeper into Sam.
"Slow," Olivia repeated. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, using her hips to guide her rhythm against Sam. Sam, beneath her, wrapped around her, thrust back with increasing passion. Olivia grunted and Sam moaned in reply.
Sam, still half-dressed from the waist up, suddenly tightened her thighs in a pincher move around Olivia's waist. She pushed with her upper body and pushed Olivia back. Olivia found herself upended, and forced to follow Sam's guidance down to the couch cushions. She was on her back, her feet on the floor, as Sam settled on her lip and sank back onto the dildo. Her blonde hair had fallen forward with the reversal of positions and caught in her eyelashes. She smiled and rolled her hips.
"Picking up the pace, Colonel?" Olivia asked. Her chest was flush, her nipples painfully erect.
Sam chuckled low in her throat and cupped Olivia's breasts in her hands. "You could say that, Detective."
"Fine," Olivia growled. "I can take a top."
Sam stretched out and gripped the back of the couch on either side of Olivia's head. "Oh, really."
Olivia craned her neck and buried her face in Sam's cleavage. She kissed, licked and inhaled the scent of her sweat, lathed her tongue across the almost-invisible freckles and kissed Sam's nipples through her bra.
Sam lifted her hips and then ground herself down against Olivia's cock. Sam pressed her knees deeper into the soft couch cushions and closed her eyes. "Bite them," she breathed. Olivia's teeth found Sam's nipples through her bra and Sam cried out. "Harder!"
Olivia moved her hands to Sam's ass and swatted it once, twice. Sam cried out and her body went still. She trembled once, twice, and her arms went limp. She fell on top of Olivia, who laid a line of kisses along Sam's neck and jaw. Sam finally sat up with her knees under Olivia's arms, the dildo still inside of her. Her upper chest was bright red, her mouth open as she struggled to catch her breath. She reached behind herself and blindly trailed her hand along the inside of Olivia's thigh.
Olivia's eyes rolled back and fluttered closed as Sam touched her.
"Tell me how it feels," Sam ordered.
"Good," Olivia said. She swallowed and Sam watched the motion trail down Olivia's throat. She slipped two fingers inside of her and Olivia shifted on the couch. "Really good," she amended.
"I want to taste you," Sam said. "I want my tongue in you."
Olivia clenched her jaw and moved her hands to Sam's breasts. She pushed the bra out of the way and finally saw Sam's breasts. She pinched and rolled the nipples as Sam had and watched the shockwaves rise to Sam's brain. Her shoulders trembled and her eyes closed depending on how hard Olivia pinched. Sam thrust three fingers inside now and Olivia was losing control. She pushed her hips down to meet Sam's fingers and said, "Sam..."
"Say it..."
"I'm coming... Sam."
Sam bent down and kissed Olivia hard. Olivia's hands left Sam's breasts and went behind her head again. She clenched her fists in Sam's hair and stifled a cry as she tightened her muscles around Sam's invading fingers. "I'm..."
"Shh," Sam whispered against Olivia's mouth. "Sh, it's okay. I've got you."
Olivia moved her head to the side and bit down on Sam's shoulder. Sam withdrew her hand and released the tension in her shoulder. Her arm had been twisted at an odd angle, but it was well worth the dull throb. She brought her fingers up and painted them across Olivia's lips. Olivia opened her mouth, but found Sam's tongue instead of her fingers. That would do. She sucked Sam's tongue and Sam tasted the come she had drawn onto Olivia's lips.
They collapsed into one another with a series of slow shockwaves, like the aftermath of an earthquake. Their kisses grew slow and lazy, tongues retreating and leaving it up to the lips. Sam tightened her thighs and pinned Olivia beneath her, while Olivia ran her hands up and down Sam's back. Olivia finally peeled the damn shirt and bra off, leaving Sam as naked as she was. Sam sat up and looked into Olivia's eyes. "This was just for tonight."
"Right," Olivia said.
Sam kissed her hungrily and sucked her tongue. When they parted, Sam said, "The night isn't over."
Olivia grinned. "I never said it was."
"So what is this, a breather?"
"Yeah," Olivia said. "Breathe while you can. Your mouth is going to be otherwise occupied for the next few hours."
Sam blinked as she finally lifted herself off Olivia's lap. "Hours?"
Olivia took Sam's hand and pulled herself off the couch. She pressed herself against Sam, letting her hands roam the blonde's naked body. She pulled back and said, "Yeah. Hours." She took Sam's hand and walked the smiling blonde down the hall to her bedroom.
#
Sam eased down the aisle until found her row. Vala was in the seat next to hers, legs crossed Indian-style. She slipped past Vala's knees and dropped into the window seat. Vala looked up, smiled at her and then refocused on the flight safety manual she had begged off the stewardess. Cam shoved his suitcase into the overhead bin and said, "Air Force. That's all I'm saying. They have hundreds of planes just sitting around doing nothing. One of them has to be going to Colorado with five empty seats."
"But they do not have peanuts," Teal'c said. "Honey-roasted."
"Neither do these flights anymore," Cam said. "These days it's pretzels or nothing." He looked up and caught Teal'c's stone-faced expression. He backpedaled. "But hey, I'm sure they can find something for you, big guy. Let's go check up front, whaddaya say?" She patted Teal'c on the shoulder and walked him back up to the front of the cabin.
Vala looked at Sam and said, "This says my seat may be used as a floatation device."
"That's right," Sam said.
"Well, if something is wrong with your seat, you can share mine."
Sam smiled. "Thank you, Vala, but I'm sure that won't be necessary. Flights from New York to Colorado don't go over very much water."
"Still, it is good information to have."
"I suppose," Sam chuckled.
Vala flipped her hair out of her face and looked at Sam. "You seem different."
"What?" Sam turned away from the window and met Vala's gaze.
"More relaxed," Vala said. She rolled her shoulders and rocked her head from side-to-side to demonstrate. "Looser."
Sam blushed and looked down at the paperback novel she had brought for the flight. "Must be the change of scenery."
"Yeah, because you so rarely get to see new and exciting locales."
Sam chuckled and opened her book.
"Did you get laid?"
Sam slapped her book shut and hissed, "Vala!" She looked around to see if Daniel or Mitchell had overheard.
"Oh, right, sorry." She sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "Did you 'make love'?"
Sam looked around to make sure no one had heard and said, "No."
"Do you want me to ask again when Cameron and Teal'c and Daniel get here?"
Sam's blush deepened. "I did meet someone."
Vala grinned and rocked back and forth in her seat.
"But nothing happened."
"Well, that is a lie."
Sam frowned.
"You've been walking funny ever since last night... when you didn't come back to the hotel." She arched her eyebrow. "And then you slept from breakfast until we left for the airport."
Sam's ears burned.
"You're not still sore, are you?"
Sam opened her book, cracked the spine and tried to focus on the words.
"Well, hopefully he is walking funny, too. Or you gave him a few good scratches on his back. Right?"
Sam cleared her throat and looked out the window at the dark runway. "Oh, yeah. I gave as good as I got..."
End