Otalia fic - Heroes and Friends, 20/?

Just in time for when you can't take the family togetherness anymore!!! An update to help you keep your sanity. Happy holidays peepers!

 

Title: Heroes and Friends

Fandom: Otalia

Rating: PG-13 for this chapter

Disclaimer: These wonderful ladies and the rest of the town belong to CBS, Telenext, and P&G. I’m just having some fun with them.

Spoilers: I don’t think so. This story picks up at the “no more waiting” gazebo scene and goes off canon.

Summary: Nat gets the shock of her life and it turns Liv’s world upside down.

Warning: Not beta’d so if it sucks, there’s only me to blame.

Links to previous chapters: Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13 - Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16.1 - Chapter 16.2 - Chapter 17 - Chapter 18 - Chapter 19

 

Chapter 20

 

By noon, Olivia had found Buzz and learned that the autopsy would be finished at any time and they’d be free to claim his body later in the afternoon.  She had also just caught Josh on his way out of the hotel.  She hugged him for a long time, and there didn’t seem to be enough ways that she could think of to thank him for his help.  Eventually, he threatened to kiss her in front of Natalia if she said ‘thank you’ one more time just to shut her up.  Josh mused at how quickly Olivia jumped out of his arms and joked about his ex-wife being well-trained before climbing in the cab and heading to the airport.

 

Before going up to their room, she found the hotel manager to thank him for providing such wonderful accommodations for her and her guests.  He went above and beyond on the ass kissing by giving her numerous free passes for all of their top of the line amenities, including unlimited and free use of their spa and salon and open use of the bar.  She extended the same courtesy to him and the hotel owner if they were in Springfield and did one better by offering a home cooked American meal at her house.  She remembered the rousing success the Xiao visit had been back before Natalia had the farmhouse.  She could only imagine how Natalia could amaze business associates now that she had full run of the house and kitchen.

 

It wasn’t until Olivia was standing in front of the elevator that she realized the ease with which she had assumed the farmhouse as her home and Natalia as her partner.  She even referred to her as such to the manager, and he didn’t even seem bothered.  A goofy smile spread across her face.

 

“You’re so gone, Spencer.”

 

The doors to the elevator opened and she pushed the button for the top floor.  In her pocket, her new phone vibrated, and when she saw Doris’ name on the screen, she didn’t hesitate to pick up.

 

“Hey.  Well?”

 

“I’m doing fine, Olivia.  And you?”

 

Olivia rolled her eyes, making hand gestures for Doris to get on with giving her an update, even though Doris couldn’t see it.  “Yeah, yeah.  Just tell me what’s happening.”

 

She listened as each ding insured she was getting closer to her floor.  “Really?  That’s…wow!  I never expected that.  That’s…oh my God!  I can’t wait to tell Natalia.”

 

Doris asked if she knew anything about when they’d be able to leave.  She told her friend that Frank’s body wouldn’t be ready until this afternoon, so she wasn’t sure if they’d want to leave today or in the morning, but she assured Doris that she’d call and let her know.

 

When the elevator finally got to her floor and the doors opened, she could barely contain her excitement.  She nearly sprinted for the room door and slipped her key through the reader.  The room was dark with the covers drawn, keeping out the harshness of the noonday sun.  The door to Rafe’s room was open, and she could hear the loud snores coming from the bedroom further in.  She gently pulled the door to and tiptoed to the bedroom where she had a sneaking suspicion Natalia would be.

 

Sure enough, curled up in the middle of the bed was Natalia.  She slipped off her shoes, slacks, and blouse until all she had on were her panties and slid under the covers.  Carefully, hoping not to wake Natalia, she moved over until she was spooning her.  The warm skin and sweet smell of the woman she loved doing vicious things to her libido.  If she could manage to get them home tonight, it wouldn’t be soon enough for her.  She was ready to get back to their lives and back to a sense of normalcy.  She wanted to have all of her family home, safe and sound.

 

Natalia stirred in her arms.  “Hey, did you see Buzz?”

 

Olivia kissed the shoulder in front of her.  “Yeah.  I’ll tell you everything when we wake up.  Right now, just sleep.  We have plenty of time.”

 

The brunette murmured.  “’Kay.  So tired.”

 

“I know, baby.  Just sleep.”

 

Olivia felt her own eyes beginning to drift shut in spite of her desire to simply lay there for the sake of being physically close to Natalia and relish in the feeling.  Her body had other intentions though.  Tonight…tomorrow, it really didn’t matter when they got home, not really.  Right now, she just wanted to take care of Natalia, and if sleep is what she needs, sleep is what she gets.  She marveled, not for the first time, at how resilient this remarkable woman was.  It must have been some kind of reserve strength she carried with her that she so commonly utilized when she was raising Rafe on her own, that kicked into gear again the last couple of days. 

 

She shook her head at it all.  For days she had been held captive and ended up malnourished and in a diabetic coma, even been tossed around like a rag doll by Edmund, yet she has been steadfastly by Olivia’s side since she was able to get out of the hospital bed. 

 

Olivia smiled in her near sleep.  “My freakin’ superhero.”

 

**********

 

Doris hung up the phone after confirming with Father Ray that he’d give the opening prayer for Frank’s memorial and then answered a text from Ashlee about how many chairs to have on reserve.  She looked up and saw a familiar redhead bent over a small computer screen.  Company had become the hub of planning for the memorial, where the coffee was never allowed to get cold, day or night.  So, Doris walked around the counter and found two clean cups.  She poured one for herself and another for Blake.  She poured a little cream in both, and one packet of sugar in hers and three in Blake’s.  She gave them a quick stir and took them over to the table.

 

“Hey, take a break.”

 

Blake jumped back at the sudden voice at her shoulder.  “Oh, hey!”  She rubbed at her tired eyes and then sighed when she saw the cup of coffee next to the computer.  “Thank you!  That was sweet.”  She took a sip and moaned.  “Perfect!”

 

The Mayor shrugged it off and quickly turned away to hide the blush the compliment caused.  “So, any luck?”

 

“Well, I guess you can call it progress that I’m only looking in California and Greece now.”

 

Doris sat down in the chair next to her.  “Why is it so important to find Eleni?”

 

Blake wouldn’t take her eyes off the screen, and Doris knew women well enough to know that was a classic avoidance move.  Usually when a woman couldn’t or wouldn’t tell you the truth, she couldn’t bring herself to look you in the eye.  The redhead just shrugged, acting nonchalant.  “I told you.  Eleni and Frank used to be married.  Marina is their daughter.  This seems like something important she should know, don’t you think so?”

 

“Granted, yes, but you’re taking a very personal interest in this.  We could easily get Remy on it or even a private detective to find her, but you’ve shown no interest in those options.  Why?” 

 

Blake took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes again.  “I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”

 

Doris pursed her lips at her, openly showing her displeasure, even if Blake didn’t see the expression because she refused to look at her.  Doris  threw up her hands, not sure what else to do, and wondering momentarily why in the hell she cared if Blake Marler told her what was eating at her or not.  “Fine.  Do your little secret search thing.”

 

Blake closed her eyes as Doris purposefully walked away from her and back behind the counter, the click of her heels stopping let Blake know she was standing at the counter. She looked over her shoulder to see Doris pulling out their best vodka and a martini glass.  She rolled her eyes and stood up, making her way over to the bar.

 

When Doris wouldn’t look up, she looked around then leaned a little further over.  “I slept with Frank.”

 

Doris lost control of the glass and shaker in her hand and both went flying through the air, comically flipping and bumping into each other, as Doris tried to catch them unsuccessfully.  Both landed with a loud crash to the floor.  Doris put her hands on the bar and just looked at Blake, who was chewing her bottom lip.

 

“Please tell me that I hallucinated what you just said, and that I didn’t waste a perfectly good martini over the mental image of a naked Frank Cooper.”

 

Blake winced at the mental image she got too and unfortunately, knew far too well the accuracy of the images.  “Look, that was a bad time for me and I wasn’t proud of it.  There were all kinds of crazy stuff going on with him, me, Eleni, and Alan-Michael.  I even tried to have her deported.  But, after all of the bad things I’ve done, I feel like the least I can do is tell her, personally, that Frank died.”

 

Doris threw her hands up in the air.  “Well, at least that makes sense even if my image of you went down a few pegs.”

 

Blake picked up the nearby bar towel and threw it at Doris, smiling.  “Yeah, well, let’s not talk about the mental images you and Alan bring to mind.”

 

Doris visibly shivered.  “Yeah, let’s not.”

 

“Big mistake?”

 

The Mayor laughed.  “I don’t think mistake is the proper word for that trainwreck.”

 

The redhead looked at her wistfully as she propped her chin in her hand.  “So, not an ounce of love there?”

 

“Um, nope…not at all.”  Doris picked up the towel and tried to occupy her hands and her mind by wiping the counter.  She was feeling more and more uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.  She knew Blake’s reputation of never letting a bone go once she got a hold of it. 

 

“Have you ever been in love, Doris?”

 

Doris swallowed.  Oh shit!  “Ummm…”

 

“What about Ashlee’s father?”

 

Doris laughed to herself.  “Oh boy.  Um, no.”

 

Blake smirked at Doris, loving to hear the mysteries of love won and lost.  The romantic in her loved to hear these stories.  “No to ever being in love or just no to being in love with Ashlee’s father?”

 

The Mayor cleared her throat as her heart thumped dangerously in her chest.  “Just, um…just Ashlee’s father.”

 

“So, you have been in love.”

 

Doris fidgeted nervously with the towel in her hand.  “Yeah, sure.  It was a long time ago though and a pretty boring story actually.  You wouldn’t want to hear it anyway.”  She came back around the bar.  Hoping her seeming disinterest would throw Blake off the scent.  “Let’s get back to looking for Eleni, huh?  We have lots to do before they all get back.”

 

Blake reached for Doris’ arm and stopped her from getting away.  “It’ll wait.  What was his name?”

 

Doris closed her eyes, feeling so tired and now utterly defenseless against the green eyes practically begging for insight into what made her tick.  She looked at Blake with sad eyes and remembering that day so long ago she felt tears form in her eyes. 

 

“Nicole…Nicole Landers.”

 

************

 

She brushed at the irritating tickle on her ear and tried to roll over.  She was suddenly wide awake as she realized her face was nestled down between Olivia’s very ample cleavage.  Natalia glanced up to a smirking Olivia with her hair tousled and her eyes mischievous.  The look sent a jolt down her spine and made her stomach do the tango in her belly. 

 

“You’re not the only one who can have fun waking someone up, you know?”

 

“Payback?”

 

The older woman shrugged.  “I didn’t really think you’d want to sleep the day away.  It’s not like you to nap anyway, but I know you must be exhausted.”

 

Natalia slid up to be eye level with Olivia and braced herself on one arm.  “I could say the same thing for you.  Except for the nap part.”

 

“Oh, I like my naps!”

 

“I know you do.”  Natalia teased and ran a finger over the other woman’s jaw and across a full bottom lip, a lip she was dying to taste, and she did.

 

The rush of kissing Olivia and the havoc it put her body into reminded her of her very strong desire to get home…with Olivia…in their bed.  If what had happened between them the other night was any indication of how intimacy would be with Olivia and that was without sex, she wondered if finally making love to Olivia would put her at risk for permanent brain damage.  When she pulled back and touched those lips again with her finger, only this time Olivia sucked it into her hungry mouth, Natalia quickly decided that it didn’t matter.  Dr. Rick could say that she’d end up right back in that coma if it meant she’d get to make love to Olivia, just once.

 

She growled and pulled her finger away with a smacking sound.  Olivia only grinned at her, knowing she had hit the mark.  “If you keep that up, Olivia, we’ll never get out of this bed.”

 

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.  I see that I have so much to teach you!”  Olivia rolled her eyes, jokingly, at her girlfriend, who swatted her.

 

“Maybe I’ll teach you a few things too.”  Natalia crawled out of bed and away from Olivia’s grasping hands.

 

“I sure hope so.” Olivia mumbled to the retreating figure strutting into the bathroom and buried her face in her pillow.  “God, I sure as hell hope so.”

 

************

 

An hour later, Olivia had called everyone up to their room and ordered up dinner.  She looked at the forlorn face of Buzz, who didn’t drift too far from a concerned Lillian, and was glad she assumed that going out and socializing would be out of the question.  Somehow, without Frank there, it just didn’t seem right.

 

After some light conversation, she brought the discussion around to leaving and when Buzz wanted to head back.  She thought she knew what the answer would be but wanted to be sure.

 

“As soon as possible.  All I have to do is call the coroner and let them know when we’re leaving and what flight.  They’ll…they’ll bring him to the airport for us.”

 

Olivia nodded.  “It’s a four hour flight back home, and it’ll take an hour or so just to get our things together and get to the airport.”  She looked at her watch.  “We’ll probably be midnight getting in, at the earliest.”

 

He looked up at her with the saddest eyes she’d ever seen.  “I just want to get him home, Olivia.  This very second can’t be soon enough.”

 

“I’ll take care of it.”

 

He looked down at his grilled chicken and pushed it around on the plate before sliding the plate away.  Lillian set her own plate aside and took his hand.

 

Olivia looked to Marina and Mallet and then over to Rick.  “What do you all think?”

Rick nodded in agreement but Marina turned away with Henry in her arms, mumbling, “Whatever grandpa wants.”

 

“Okay, I’ll get the plane readied.  Will an hour be enough time to pack?”  Everyone nodded or agreed verbally.  She looked at Lillian.  “If you need me to light a fire under the hospital, let me know.”

 

The older woman smiled kindly.  “Thank you, dear.  I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

 

The group scattered and Natalia got busy doing what she did best, cleaning up.  She bustled around the hotel room picking up cups and cans that were left sitting around and throwing away napkins.  When the room was clear of people and Rafe was back on his side packing what little he had to take back, she walked up behind Natalia and wrapped her arms around her waist.  She could tell the younger woman was upset, probably from Buzz’s deep sadness that seemed to permeate the room, and now she cleaned with a vengeance to get some perspective on it.

 

“Slow down, baby.”

 

Natalia leaned her head back on the strong shoulder behind her.  “Do you think he’s going to be okay?  I mean, he’s dealt with a lot lately.”

 

She nodded her head.  “I don’t think so…I know so.  Did you see the way Lillian looked when he pushed his plate away?  She had this really fiercely protective and determined look on her face.  I’ve seen that look before on someone else’s face.”  She hugged the smaller woman closer and felt the chuckle underneath her hands.  “It does wonders for someone’s determination to survive when they have someone that believes in them and that will fight for them.”

 

Natalia turned a little in her arms, just enough to bring a hand up to trace along her cheek.  “Tell me about it.”

 

Realization suddenly hit Olivia as she remembered that she hadn’t told Natalia what Doris had said earlier that day.  “Speaking of believing in someone, I had a very interesting phone call with Doris today.”

 

Olivia loosened her grip and Natalia turned all the way around in her arms. “Really?”

 

“Yep, but let me back up and say that I had a moment of insight earlier and thought I’d just take care of matters.  Maybe I should have talked to you first, but I didn’t want to waste time either and go back and have something terrible happen.”

 

Natalia looked at her curious.  “What?  I have no idea what you could be talking about.”

 

“Natalia, you do realize that Rafe skipped parole to help find you, right?”

 

Natalia brought a frightened hand up to her face.  “Oh my God, Olivia.  He can’t go back to jail.  Not after all that’s happened and after all he’s been through.”

 

Olivia reached for her hands to calm her.  “That’s just it.  He won’t.”

 

“What?”

 

Olivia smiled at her.  “He won’t.  When I realized the hot water he’d be in, I made a call to Doris, told her the circumstances and what happened, and she told me not to worry that she’d take care of it.  Now, I don’t know all she did and I don’t want to.  All I know is that she called and told me she called in a few favors and not only will Rafe not have to go back to jail but his record will be cleared.  It’ll be as if nothing ever happened.”

 

The brunette’s mouth was hanging open wide by the time Olivia finished.  “Oh. My. God.  That’s…that’s…a miracle.”

 

Olivia shrugged.  “Works for me.”

 

When reality set in and Natalia wrapped her mind around what she had just heard, Olivia could literally see her fight the urge to jump for joy.  She bit her lip and the tears came down in rivers.  With a shaky voice, she pointed to Rafe’s door.  “Have you…does he…?”

 

Olivia shook her head and laughed as Natalia ran into his room, yelling, “Rafe!!!