"What do you think, Casey? Is this enough for a warrant?" Olivia asked.
Casey Novak stood in the SVU squad room, examining the evidence the team had come up with. Everyone was in their but Elliot, who was on the phone with his kid.
They were investigating a case where a woman had been raped and murdered. However, according to doctor Warner, the woman had been able to get a few good hits in. All they had was a suspect with no alibi, and a black eye.
"I've gotten warrants on less," Casey mused.
That was when Elliot walked in the room.
"Sorry," he said, "That was Lizzie. She needed help with a research paper."
It was then that ADA Casey Novak started laughing hysterically, effectively earning strange looks from the rest of the squad.
"She's finally cracked," Munch said, "Who would have thought the job would get to her this quickly?
She knew how ridicules she looked, but she didn't care. It was just too funny.
Casey Novak smiled contently as she watched the new interns talk. Every three months, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office would pick up about five new interns. These kids were a mix of pre-law and law students, and had very little idea of what they were going to get themselves into. The ones wanting to be prosecutors were convinced justice would always be served, while the ones who wanted to be defense lawyers were convinced that none of their future clients would actually be bad people. To them, everything would be black and white. The internship would give them a small glimpse at what would be in store for them when they graduated. For three months, everyone working at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office would watch these kids grow as people, and have experiences that would only fuel their passion for law.
However, that wasn't the reason people liked having them around. Not even close.
Having interns meant less work. They would deliver and organize papers, bring coffee; these kids would clean toilets if they were told to. When you said "jump" they not only asked "how high," they looked for the nearest trampoline. They were indentured servants. In return, you gave told them about cases and quizzed their knowledge on law. Occasionally, you would throw them a bone and let them sit in on an interview with a witness.
The other fun reason for having them, was that they made easy targets.
All the ADA's at the office had a little game, and that was who could pull the best prank on the all interns. Casey Novak was very proud to say that she had won for the past three years, and she hoped to make it four.
The five of them were standing around the hallway, talking. There was a short brunette girl, a tall skinny-blond boy, a curly haired boy, an Asian boy with glasses, and a tall blond girls. From the way they were, Casey guessed they knew each other from before the intern ship. Since it was their first day, she didn't know their names yet. She didn't need to right now.
She walked in the hallway with a friendly demeanor, keeping on a cheerful poker face.
"Hey," she greeted them. All five of them instantly stiffened up, and looked at her with "deer in the headlights" eyes. Casey had to suppress the urge to laugh at them. It was the same look all interns had for the first few weeks, when they came in contact with somebody who worked at the office. They even acted that way around the janitors of the building.
"My name is Casey Novak," she said, putting a hand out for somebody to shake, "Congratulations on getting this internship. Hopefully, you might learn something useful."
The short brunette was the one who shook Casey's hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Novak," she said. The others nodded. If Casey had to take a guess, she would say that this brunette girl would be the ringleader of the group. "Is there anything you need us to do for you?"
Casey shook her head, giving all of them a friendly smile.
"Nope, but if I need anything done, I'll let you guys know, okay?" She said, in a way that made it sound like they would be the ones benefitting. The brunette smiled, and nodded.
"Thanks," the boy with glasses said. She watched as the tension in the interns bodies slightly wore down. She had gained their trust.
"Anyways, I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow," Casey said as friendly as she could, and began to make her way towards the nearest exit. The interns went back to their previous conversation, something about a TV show. As Casey reached the exit, she turned around.
"Oh, I know you probably know already, but remember to have those papers on Donnelly's desk by tomorrow morning. If you have them, I'd turn them in now."
The interns turned to face her, the dear in the headlight's look present on their faces again.
"…Papers?" The blond with glasses asked.
"Yeah, you know. Your research papers on the Killebrew Method. You know, with the stuff on the senator who came up with it, how it's used, and stuff. It has to be thirty-two pages. Remember?"
The interns simultaneously shook their heads no, and Casey could see the panic spreading throughout their bodies. Casey pretended to be shocked.
"You mean Preston forgot to tell you about the research paper you needed to do on the Killebrew Method?" There was nobody named "Preston" working at the building. It just made the prank easier if it sounded like she knew who she was talking about. Plus, by not using an actual person, nobody would tell the kids that she was making the whole thing up. "This is not good," Casey continued, "It's necessary for you to keep your internships!"
"It's due tomorrow?" The short brunette asked, stunned. Casey nodded her head with concern.
"Yeah. Donnelly wants it on her desk by six. You guys better get on it quick!"
"We can write them at my apartment!" short brunette shouted, "I live close!"
And with that, the five interns scattered out the door, and into a sleepless night of writing.
"Don't worry!" Casey called out after them "It's easy to learn. Even the worst law-students in the world could write a hundred pages on the subject. You only have to write thirty-two!"
Casey grinned, wondering if they would ever figure out that there was actually no such thing as the "Killebrew Method".
Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly was slightly confused what was going on. Into her office had come the five interns the office had taken on, all looking like they had just witnessed a ghost murder a puppy. They were pale, and they eyes were wet and red. She had seen frightened interns before, but this was certainly a first.
"We're so sorry," the brunette girl muttered out. All of them were shaking, Donnelly realized. She remember fifteen years ago, where a group of interns accidently set the building on fire. Even those kids weren't as mortified as the ones now were.
"Sorry?" Donnelly asked, leaning forward in her desk. Her hands were folded, and she just stared at them, hoping something in their body language would clue her in on what was going on.
Suddenly, all five of them started crying. Donnelly's eyes widened. This was definitely a new one.
"Please don't take away our internship!" The boy with glasses pleaded.
That was never a good thing to hear from interns.
"Why would I do that?" Donnelly asked. The crying increased.
"Because…" one of them sniffed. She couldn't tell who, because it was a small sound amongst the roaring of their sobs.
"We didn't finish the paper we needed to do!" The brunette girl choked, "We didn't even start. We've never heard of it before. We couldn't find any research on it!"
"We only know that a senator came up with it! That's all we could write down!" The curly-haired boy added.
"We're all failures at law!" the blond boy cried.
Donnelly processed this information. She had absolutely no clue as to what these kids were even talking about. The only place she had heard the word "Killebrew" before was in baseball. There was a baseball player named "Harmon Killebrew".
That's when Donnelly realized something. The kid had said something about a senator coming up with it. If she remembered correctly, Harmon Killebrew played for the Washington Senators.
That's when it hit Donnelly. This situation had Casey Novak written all over it. She knew about the competition of who could prank the interns best.
Donnelly started laughing as hard as she could. She couldn't contain it. She looked at the looks on the interns faces, and how mortified they were over something that didn't exist. She started to laugh harder, as she saw the confused looks of terror that were showing across the intern's wet faces.
Outside the hallway, Casey Novak and the other ADAs were watching from the door, laughing hysterically.
"I don't know how… how I can beat that," Evan Lawrence, an ADA from narcotics said, in between his laughter. Casey grinned, her gut started to hurt.
"You can't," she said. She peered inside the room, and saw a mirror off to the side. Through it, she could see the stunned looks of the interns, as Donnelly explained to them there was no such thing as the "Killebrew Method."
She laughed harder than she ever thought she could.
I wrote this because of my other story, The Shape of Things to Come. In it, there is a chapter that mentions this prank Casey pulled on the interns, and I just felt like writing it. What the worst prank every pulled on you guys.
Sorry if the grammar is not as good as I'd like it to be in this one. A woodpecker living on my window has it out for me, so even though I proof-read this more then my fair share, I'm pretty sure I missed something.
Thanks for reading! For readers of The Shape of Things to Come, I'll update very soon. For non-readers, if you liked this, check out The Shape of Things to Come. Or don't. Whatever you want to do.
Fayth