*Hey everyone! I've had this idea running through my head for a while now, and it's finally formulated a plot…YAY! This takes place seasons 10 – 11, after Alex rejoined the squad and Casey was disbarred. I have a pretty good idea of where this story is going, but please review with any ideas you have! Read and review, because reviews MAKE MY LIFE!!!!*

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It was a beautiful day in April; one of the first sunny days of the year, and Alexandra Cabot was sitting outside eating her chicken salad sandwich and bag of chips from Panera Bread. Most of her co-workers were, in Alex's opinion, wimps, and found 50 degrees far too brisk, but the blonde never feared the cold and simply could not resist the sun's beckoning rays. She was listening to some music on her iPhone, "The Beatles Radio" on her Pandora app, and allowing her very stressful morning to melt away.

"Alex…," her boss, Liz Donnelly, practically screamed to overcome the noise of 'Here Comes the Sun,' "What the hell is wrong with you? It's freezing out here!"

"It's not bad," Alex laughed, "I've got a coat on and the sun is out!"

"You're crazy!" Liz retorted with amusement, "But anyway, I have something I need to discuss with you. You free right now?"

"Not really," Alex replied as she glanced at her watch, "I've got closing statements in an hour and a half so I was going to head to the courthouse right after I finish my lunch."

"All right," Liz retorted, feigning aggravation, "Meet me in my office around five."

Great, just what I want to do on a Friday afternoon, Alex thought, more pissed at the fact that she was being told, not asked, to meet than at the meeting itself.

Four hours later, closing statements on the Hamm case were completed, and the jury was coming back from an hour-long deliberation. The guilty verdict seemed a formality in this case. They had DNA evidence, a shaky alibi that Alex destroyed beyond repair on cross-examination, and a bruised, convincing victim who had the courage to testify against her attacker. Nevertheless, Alex, Elliot, and Olivia were anxious as the jury reentered the room.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge ceremoniously asked.

"We have, Your Honor," the foreman replied, "We find the defendant, Michael Hamm, guilty on all counts."

"It's almost unfair how brilliant you were!" her best friend Olivia Benson complimented with a small laugh. "Elliot and I were going to head out for celebratory drinks, you in?"

"Thanks, but Liz needs to talk to me about something," Alex answered with a slight eye-roll.

"What kind of something?" Elliot prodded, his curiosity taking the better of him.

"No idea," Alex answered, amused at the perplexed faces of her detectives, "But it's probably not going to be something pleasant."

"We'll wait for you and then we can all go out," Elliot answered in a questioning tone, partly out of altruism and partly out of burning curiosity.

"Sure, if you guys don't mind," Alex answered casually, not wanting to be a burden but wanting to unwind later with drinks. Moreover, she could use some moral support. Liz usually never made her nervous, but she couldn't ignore the gut feeling screaming that the meeting would not go well.

With that, Elliot, Olivia and Alex piled into Elliot's blue Ford and drove to the District Attorney's office. Surprisingly, Elliot and Olivia accompanied Alex into the building instead of waiting in the car, further evidence of their now mounting curiosity. As they approached the fifth floor, the jovial trio chatted away until what, or rather who, they saw outside of Liz's office rendered them silent. Elliot and Olivia wore a mix of happiness, confusion, nostalgia and shock on their faces, while Alex, in fear of expressing her true, more negative emotions, froze her expression to ice.

"Well, isn't anyone going to say hi?" former assistant district attorney Casey Novak asked with a nervous smile, trying to quash the awkward silence and look of shock on the faces of her former co-workers. Olivia and Elliot, still shell-shocked, gave their red-headed friend a warm embrace.

"How have you been? We've missed you!" Olivia asked. After slight hesitation, she gently raised the question that had been on everyone's mind: "So, are you back with the DA's office?"

"I was reinstated by the State Bar last week," Casey replied, trying to pretend the situation was perfectly comfortable. "I'm meeting with Liz now to talk jobs."

As if on cue, Liz emerged from her office looking harried and stressed as usual. "Casey, Alex; come in. Your entourage can stay out here," she instructed, giving Olivia and Elliot a look which asked: why are you here? Please go away. Both Alex and Casey shot the detectives nearly identical looks of anxiety and annoyance, causing Elliot and Olivia to suppress slight chuckles until the door of Liz's office was safely closed behind the trio.

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*Hope this intro whets your appetite for more! I'm going to TRY and update soon; note that reviews tend to cause my creative juices to flow far more freely!