DISCLAIMER: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and its characters are the property of NBC and Dick Wolf.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
SERIES: Part of the Holiday Shorts series.

Holiday Short - Columbus Day
By sunsetwriter

 

"Where's Olivia?" the ADA asked upon entering the squad room and seeing no sign of the squad's only female detective.

Munch smirked as he answered. "She drew the short straw."

Alex couldn't help but notice the amused looks on the faces of the three remaining detectives. "Meaning?"

Elliot answered this time. "She gets to represent the squad in the annual Columbus Day Parade."

Alex frowned. "Shouldn't that be a good thing?"

Fin spoke up this time. "Only if you don't mind walking thirty-two blocks."

"In dress blues." Elliot added.

Alex blinked. She had only seen Olivia in uniform once. "She has to wear her uniform?"

Elliot nodded. "That's where she is now. She went home to pick it up."

"Is she coming back here?"

Elliot looked at his watch. "I doubt it. The parade starts around eleven, so she'll probably go straight there. Something I can help you with?"

Alex shook her head. "No, that's OK, I'll just talk to Olivia later." She exited the squad room and walked to the elevator as she removed her cell phone from her purse. She pressed few buttons and waited for the call to connect.

"Trevor? It's Alex Cabot. I'm afraid I'm going to have to reschedule our two o'clock meeting. I just found out that I have to make an appearance at the Columbus Day Parade." She snapped the cell phone shut and entered the elevator.


Alex stood at the corner of 5th Avenue and 79th Street at the end of the parade route. She watched the marching bands, the floats, the clowns, and groups from various other civic organizations as they filtered by and began to disperse. It wasn't long before a small sea of blue uniforms made its way toward her. She searched the crowd until her eyes landed on one particular uniformed detective.

Detective Benson was chatting with the man walking next to her and was oblivious to the watchful eyes of the ADA. As the group broke apart, Olivia and the fellow officer shook hands, clapped each other on the back and parted company.

As Alex debated simply watching from afar versus making her presence known, Olivia turned and headed straight toward where the ADA was standing on the sidewalk. Sidestepping to avoid a woman with a stroller, the detective looked up and suddenly realized she was staring right into the eyes of Alex Cabot. A hitch in her step and a slightly confused smile let Alex know she had been spotted, so she offered her own smile in return.

"Alex?" The detective was genuinely surprised. "What on earth are you doing here?"

The ADA gave a small shrug as she answered. "I heard you were here showing off your dress blues and I just couldn't resist."

Much to Alex's delight, the confused smile turned into a broad grin and a blush tinged Olivia's cheeks. "I thought you had a meeting with Dickhead."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Let's see," she said as she pretended to ponder the situation. "Staring at Trevor Langan's smug mug while listening to him grovel for a deal or seeing you in all your uniformed glory. Tough choice, but I think I made the right one." She made a show of trailing her eyes from Olivia's head to her toes and back up again.

Olivia's blush deepened. "Are you just going to stand there an ogle me or are you coming with me to get a cup of coffee?"

"You don't have to get back to the precinct?"

"Hey, if I have to prance around out here in this monkey suit, I can at least take the time to have a cup of coffee with my gir-," she caught the slip, "with my ADA."

Alex smiled. "If I'd known there would be prancing, I would have gotten here earlier."

Olivia smirked. "Come on, smart ass." She tugged on Alex's sleeve and began walking toward the closest coffee shop.


Olivia watched as Alex took a sip of her latte. "So, why did you really come down here today?"

"I told you. I heard you were here, in uniform, and I couldn't resist."

"You're serious?" She gave Alex an incredulous look. "You cancelled a meeting and came all the way here just to see me in uniform?"

Alex shrugged. "You wear it very well." When Olivia remained speechless, Alex continued. "Olivia, we both been running ragged, and I haven't seen you for more than ten minutes all week. To be honest, I was looking for any excuse just to see you. That's why I stopped by the squad room. And then when Elliot told me you would be in the parade, in uniform, well, that was just an opportunity I couldn't pass up."

"I never knew you had a thing for uniforms."

"I don't. Unless you happen to be the one wearing it."

Seeing another coffee shop patron approaching their table, Olivia's eyes widened. "Uh, Alex-"

Alex ignored the detective's attempt to interrupt her. "Although, I have to say the leather-jacket-look works very well for you also, but I'll take you in uniform any day."

"Alex!" Olivia interrupted again just as Alex felt a hand land on her shoulder.

The ADA jumped slightly and looked up into the eyes of Judge Lena Petrovsky. The judge smiled. "Good afternoon, Miss Cabot, Detective Benson."

Olivia nodded and hoped the judge had not overheard their conversation. "Your Honor."

Alex simply stared, wide-eyed, a blush creeping up her neck. She swallowed and the judge tried to suppress a smile. "I hope I'm not intruding."

Alex finally found her voice. "No, no, Your Honor, we were just… chatting over a coffee. Oliv- Detective Benson represented the SVU in the parade today." Not sure why she felt the need to explain anything, Alex smiled self-consciously.

The judge smiled. "Well, that explains the uniform."

"Would you care to join us?" Olivia offered causing Alex to give her strange look.

"Thank you, but I just came down for the parade myself and I need to get back to my office. I just thought I would say hello when I saw you here." She patted Alex's shoulder and removed her hand. "Good to see you both."

"You too, Your Honor." Alex seemed to have recovered somewhat.

The judge smiled and started to walk away. She turned back to Olivia and lowered her voice. "Just between you and me, Detective, I actually prefer the leather-jacket-look myself, and I think it may be less distracting for Miss Cabot if you don't wear the uniform the next time you're in my courtroom." With that, Judge Petrovsky winked and walked away, leaving a speechless ADA and detective gaping after her.

The End

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