Persistence, Part 11
Title - Persistence
Fandom - Cold Case/SVU
Pairing - Alex/Olivia with a dash of Lilly/Olivia thrown in for flavor
Warnings or Spoilers Slightly AU as it was written before "Ghost". "Loss"-centric
Archiving - as per our agreement, yes to P&P, others please ask
Summary - Three years after Alex’s “death” Olivia still searches. Her quest leads her to Philadelphia consequently teaming her up with Det. Lilly Rush and the rest of the Cold Case squad. On a case fraught with twists, turns, and tensions Olivia is steadfast in her conviction to bring Alex home again.
Rating - R
Author's Notes - I have recently finished this story (no longer a WIP) and am posting this story again because it has been so long. Feel free to refresh yourself with the story or just hold out for the new parts which will be posted as soon as the reposting is through. Other parts are here: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Persistence
11. Picking Up The Pieces
“Haven’t you done enough?” a man barked.
“This is a hospital, keep your voices down,” a nurse scolded them as she passed the pastel room.
Alex advanced toward the waiting room with much trepidation. Empty moments before, the room was now filled with men of every shape and size-cops always came with entourages. Alex went unnoticed outside the room. She wanted to disappear, to melt away, to evaporate into ether.
The chubby one was grumbling about something and Olivia did well not to smack the pointing finger away from her face.
A mustached man she assumed to be his partner clapped a hand on the fat one’s shoulder. “Calm down, Nick.”
“The doctor isn’t letting anyone in to see her tonight, so why don’t we call it a night.” She recognized the cadence and tone of his voice and the way he settled the detectives as one that Captain Cragen often employed-he was the man in charge.
“Boss-“
“Go home and get some rest.”
The men buzzed past, Vera still shaking his head; tearing at his words like a junkyard dog as he stomped down the hall.
Olivia spotted her first, then the Lieutenant, his eyes following Olivia’s to her. There was no point pretending to be the proverbial fly on the wall any longer so she stepped into the putrid pink room and faced the man in charge.
“Alex,” Olivia introduced, “this is Lieutenant Stillman.”
She squeezed the man’s warm hand. “Alex Cabot.”
“Well, Ms. Cabot, Detective Benson… Agent Hammond has asked that I bring you both back to the station.”
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There were no cuffs, no threats or manhandling, just a civil-albeit quiet-ride across town in an unmarked car. Olivia had noticed Alex’s indecisiveness when the back door was opened for her and crawled in first, sparing Alex the indignity of sitting in the cage by herself. As the sedan pulled away from the curb, Alex had brushed her thumb across the back of the hand that rest between them as Olivia nervously picked at the bench’s loose threads.
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“Philadelphia’s most wanted.” Stillman groaned as lowered himself to his chair. “I have to admit… you’re not what I was expecting.”
“No, I’m not.”
The Lieutenant puzzled over her statement for a long while before he spoke again. “So what happens now?”
The question, while an obvious one, troubled her. The gutting irony of it was: she hadn’t thought that far ahead.
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“You did it.” Hammond threw a stack of photos onto the table. “You got him.” His head bobbled like a doll as he spoke. “What are you going to do with yourself now, Detective?”
Olivia pushed the pile of pictures around, spreading the bloodied bodies of their would-be assassins across the table with curious wonder. She tapped her nail against a photo. “You’re sure it’s him?”
She didn’t wait for his nod; even awash with blood she recognized Velez.
Hammond crossed his arms and sat on the edge of the interrogation room table.
Lifting the badge that dangled from the chain around her neck she stared at the numbers that had defined her for so many years. She twisted the gold shield in the harsh lamp light, not shying away from its glare before lifting it over her head and setting it on the table.
“You didn’t do it, you know.” Hammond tapped a pen on the table and poked at Velez’s bloody body. “Not Velez.” Olivia cocked her head. “I did him,” he gnashed his teeth, “and it felt good.”
Overwhelmed, Olivia sunk into the cold, metal chair. Staring at her badge she tried to make sense of it all.
“There’ll be an internal investigation, of course,” he brushed imaginary dust from his pant leg.
The door creaked as Lieutenant Stillman stepped into the room. She never thought her day of reckoning would be so swift, so immediate.
“I will personally apprise IAB of your capacity on this case and within our jurisdiction. Your weapon will be returned to you accordingly. Thank you for your assistance in recovering our witness.”
Olivia scrunched her forehead at Agent Hammond’s off the wall apology. His allusion to clearing her name was possibly the most bizarre thing she had ever heard given the circumstances. She looked to Stillman who didn’t seem share her disturbance over Hammond’s uncharacteristic display of generosity.
“Yessir,” she stood awkwardly and turned to leave.
“Benson,” he barked. When Olivia turned, he was pitching her badge to her. “Stay out of trouble.”
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“This is it. It’s not the Ritz but I wasn’t expecting...” Olivia looked over her shoulder as she fumbled with the plastic keychain.
“No, it’s good.” Alex didn’t tell her she had seen her fair share of roach motels during her exile, nor did she remind Olivia that she’d visited her motel once before.
“Here,” Olivia eagerly cleared away the suitcase she’d left behind all those hours ago. “Take this one.” Her wild gesticulation between the two beds was almost comical. “That one has this spring and it’s just… this one is good.” Olivia took a deep breath.
She nodded and tried not to smile at Olivia’s nervousness. It was senior prom all over again-the ‘are we, aren’t we’ tension-but this was worse. There was an aching finality to their awkwardness. The way they avoided the subject, shied away from touching, keeping a respectable distance when there was such a palpable need to reconnect. But things were more complicated than that. Things had changed; there were things Olivia needed to know before they went down that road again, and she might not want to even try once she heard what Alex had to say.
Olivia hovered by the door until Alex settled onto the edge of the bed.
“You can stop running now.”