Title: Stalemate
Summary: But when the color drained from her aunt's face, when the ringing in her ears stopped and she heard the kids in the classroom next door screaming, she understood. Oh God, she understood.
Spoilers: None.
Pairing: None.
Disclaimer: Casey Novak and the rest of the SVU crew belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'll put them back when I'm done!
Author's Note: So, yeah, I'm clinging to Casey a little. Leave me alone. wink Since we haven't learned much about Casey's family (and we NEVER WILL ... not that I'm bitter or anything), I'm not tagging this as AU. So there. ;P Enjoy!
Rare were the days that Olivia Benson could actually leave the precinct for a full hour-long lunch break. Usually her meals were eaten in the car or at her desk--sometimes even walking down the street--and those were just the days she was able to have her afternoon meal at all. Today, though, her investigations were at a standstill. The hour break was a luxury she could afford.
There was one person outside the precinct whose eating habits were worse then her own: Casey Novak. The days she was in court weren't so bad because they usually recessed for lunch. It was the days she spent in her office, researching or working on her paperwork that killed her. Deep in her work, she developed a kind of tunnel-vision. All was forgotten, including stopping for a sandwich.
As Olivia made her way down the corridor, she saw light spilling out from Casey's open office door. Good, so she was in. The ADA was seated at her desk, her fingers flying over the keyboard of a laptop that Olivia hadn't even been aware that she owned. As absorbed as Casey was in her work, it wouldn't matter how gently Olivia tried to announce her presence. Any interruption of Casey's concentration was sure to startle her.
Sure enough the ADA jumped in her chair when Olivia knocked softly on the door. "Sorry," she said through a cringe. "I was just wondering if you had time for a quick lunch. I'm buying."
The small adrenaline rush that had accompanied the startle was already dwindling as Casey raised a single eyebrow. "What do you need?"
"I'm hurt!" Olivia invited herself into Casey's office since the ADA had failed to extend the courtesy and plopped down on the small leather couch underneath the window. "I don't only offer to buy you food when I need something."
"No, but you frequently offer to buy me food when you need something." A smirk tugged at the corners of Casey's mouth. "What is it today? No, don't answer that. I want to guess. You need … some ridiculously impossible warrant even though you have no probable cause, and you need it like, oh my God, four hours ago?"
Unsure whether she was amused or offended, Olivia inhaled through her nose and fixed a mildly exasperated stare on the young attorney. "I swear to you, I don't need a single thing."
The slight narrowing of the ADA's eyes made her suspicion apparent. "So you're just offering to buy me lunch out of the goodness of your heart?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Olivia raised her hands in mock surrender before pushing herself to her feet. "I mean, if you don't want a free lunch, by all means, let me know. I'll happily go buy someone else food."
The smirk on Casey's face widened into a full-blown smile. "A hot dog with mustard and relish?"
"Whatever floats your boat," the detective answered with a shrug.
"You've got a deal."
Oh, boy. Was Casey even aware that she said things like that in her everyday vocabulary? Olivia shook her head and heaved a faux-annoyed sigh. "Lawyers. Everything's always a deal with you people."
Although she wrinkled her nose at the detective in an attempt to blow off her comment, the flush of pink coloring Casey's cheeks was all Olivia needed to see; she hadn't been aware that she did that.
The detective watched as Casey tapped a couple of keys on the laptop's keyboard, undoubtedly saving whatever document she'd been working on, and pushed the top down. Just as Casey stood and grasped the handle of her briefcase, her office phone rang. She gave a sigh, glaring daggers at the offending mound of molded plastic.
The sheer aggravation on Casey's face made Olivia snicker. "Ignore it," she advised, waving her hand in a "whatever" motion. "They'll leave a message and you can get back to them on a full stomach."
Green eyes darted back and forth between the phone and Olivia as Casey played a mental version of Eeny Meeny Miny Moe. Just as the detective knew it would, the ADA's work ethic won out. She raised her index finger to Olivia--the universal hand signal for "hang on a second"--and picked up the receiver from its cradle. "Casey Novak."
"Ms. Novak," said a woman whose voice Casey did not recognize, "this is Sharon Kelleher at Glendale Elementary. I have Lynn down in the nurse's office with a headache and a slight fever. Is it possible for you to come down to the school and pick her up?"
Casey met Olivia's eyes and gave a regretful shake of her head. Ordinarily the detective was rather good at interpreting body language and silent signals, but she didn't know Casey well enough yet and the only thing she was able to gather from the gesture was that she was going to be eating lunch by herself. "I'm leaving now," Casey said into the phone. "I should be there in about fifteen minutes."
"Thank you. I'll let both Lynn and her teacher now that you're coming for her."
A sigh that was equal parts concern for little Lynn and apology for Olivia escaped Casey's lips as she hung up the phone. "Looks like I'm going to have to take a rain check on lunch. I have to go down to Glendale and pick up my niece."
The calm smile on Olivia's face indicated that she understood one hundred percent. Family came first, after all, especially when the family member in need was a sick first-grader. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. She's got a headache and a low-grade fever." Her voice grew soft, and she was now more thinking out loud than she was talking to the detective. "I'll have to bring her back here, though. I have too much work to do to stay at home with her."
Though the younger woman was attempting to pretend that everything was business as usual, the concern swimming in her eyes betrayed her. I can't let her take a cab down there alone, Olivia thought, frowning. "Do you want a ride to the school? I can bring you down and get the both of you back here before my lunch hour's up."
As was typical when someone offered to do her a favor, Casey's suspicion was aroused. "Why would you want to give up your lunch hour to play chauffeur for me?" she asked, a frown causing creases in her forehead.
God, she needs to work on the whole trust thing. Rather than attempt to explain that most friends did nice things for other friends because they wanted to, Olivia just shrugged. "Why not?"
The muscles in the younger woman's shoulders visibly relaxed and she shot the detective a grateful smile. "You're a lifesaver! Lynnie never gets sick. Figures that she'd pick the one week out of the year that my brother's out of town to get sick at school."
"Well, I don't think Lynn exactly planned on getting sick, Case," Olivia teased. Although the friendship between the two of them was still in a tentative, formative stage, it hadn't escaped her notice that she was one of about three or four people who were allowed to call the ADA by that nickname. Most people who tried were given a sharp enough glare that they never attempted it again.
"Ha ha." The urge to stick her tongue out at the detective was overwhelming, but Casey managed to resist it. She allowed Olivia to exit the office first and then pulled the door closed behind the two of them, twisting the knob in her hand to ensure that the lock was set.
Jeff Novak was usually the emergency contact for his daughters; it was easier for him to leave work in the middle of the day than it was for his wife, Sarah. But this week Jeff was in Chicago for his once-a-year business trip and the primary emergency responsibilities shifted to Casey with the understanding that if she was in court and thus unable to leave, whichever school was calling was to call Sarah. Even though these plans had been in place for a few years now, this was the first time Casey actually had to perform any of the responsibilities of an emergency contact, and she was surprised to find that she was a little nervous.
On the walk to the elevator, Casey pulled her phone from her briefcase and flipped it open with one hand. She glanced at the display for the time, hit a number on her speed dial, and pressed the send button. At this point in the day, she'd have to leave a message for her sister-in-law. "Hi, Sarah, it's Casey. I'm picking Lynn up at school with a headache and a slight temp and I'm bringing her back to my office until you get out of work. I'll also leave a message at the house so Steph doesn't worry."
Casey's other niece, Stephanie, was in the seventh grade and was usually charged with keeping an eye on her younger sister for the two or so hours between their arrival home from school and their parents' return home at the end of their work day.
By the time Casey placed the call to her brother's house, left the promised message for Stephanie, and tucked her cell phone into the pocket of her suit jacket, the two women had arrived at Olivia's car. "I wonder if Lynn will be too out of it to be impressed that she's getting picked up in a cruiser," Casey mused as she opened the passenger side door.
Olivia grinned. "It's not as impressive to a little kid as if I had a patrol car, though."
The drive to Glendale Elementary was a rather easy one by New York standards; a few blocks down from the DA's office, a left turn, and then another five blocks. Olivia eased the car to a stop in front of the open gate of the iron fence surrounding the school's playground. "Do you want me to come in with you or do you think Lynn would freak out a little?"
Casey glanced out the window at the brick building, frowning. Her niece, though young, wasn't shy. As such, she didn't think the girl would be too concerned with the presence of a stranger, but the school might. After all, they were expecting Casey, not Casey and company. "Do you mind waiting out here? I'll be like, two seconds."
"That's perfectly fine," Olivia assured her.
Casey smiled a thank you, climbed out of the car, and shut the door behind her. She passed through the gate and made her way down the concrete walk, up the stairs, and through the front doors.
Once the set of double doors closed and Casey disappeared from her view, Olivia let out a soft breath through her nose and leaned her head against the back of the seat to wait. Sudden movement outside, reflected in the rearview mirror, caught her eye and she turned slightly in the seat to glance out the back window. A tall man in his early thirties was hurrying down the sidewalk.
He wore tattered jeans and a threadbare polo shirt, and his light brown hair stuck out in odd places, as if he hadn't combed it after getting out of bed that morning. Olivia frowned and faced forward in her seat, using the rearview to keep a wary and watchful eye on the man. She couldn't put her finger on what, exactly, about him was making her uneasy but something certainly was.
Her eyes remained trained on him as he passed the car, turned the corner at the open gate, and started up the same walkway Casey had just taken. A sudden gust of wind swirled through the playground, causing the swings to sway slightly, and the man pressed his hand against his unzipped light jacket.
Olivia sat up straighter. He hadn't, as it appeared at first blush, been keeping his jacket from blowing backwards in the unexpected wind. He had gripped something. It was a light touch, almost as if to unconsciously remind himself of the presence of something in the inside pocket of his coat.
Oh, God. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. Olivia had learned long ago that she should always pay attention to this particular churning in her stomach, this specific pounding of her heart.
She got out of the car, her suspicions forcing her to follow the man. She was halfway up the walk when she heard the gunshot.