Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following characters: Casey Novak, Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler, Fin Tutuola, John Munch, and Don Cragen

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The Other Side Of Marcus Bradford

Their laughter filled the bar they were in. Casey, and her new love, Marcus, were out celebrating with the rest of the SVU squad. It had been exactly one year since Casey met Marcus during an investigation. They had been dating for twelve months, and it was Marcus's idea to start their second year together living in the same apartment.

Marcus Bradford was a prominent defense lawyer; respected by the community. He viewed on the outside as a terrific eligible bachelor. He got dozens of advances from the female lawyers at his firm, but rarely ever went on dates. Casey was only the third woman he had ever been serious with. His first serious relationship lasted four years, and then she left. Casey was told the woman moved out of state. His second exclusive girlfriend also left him. She allegedly ran off with another man after a two year relationship.

He was one of those people who everyone liked. His colleagues, his neighbors, his boss, even his mailman could sing his praises. The only odd thing about him was that, although he was liked by everyone, and polite and charming to everyone he spoke to, he didn't have any friends. He didn't like socializing, and never did unless it was absolutely necessary. He told Casey it was because his work kept him too busy. But she suspected there was more to it than that when he had been off for a week, and she still had to drag him out of the house to go out with her and her friends. Still, it was no big deal, and she hardly gave it a second thought.

Fin, Munch, and Elliot tried to get him to come out with them on more than one occasion, but he always had an excuse, usually one that had to do with work. But they still liked him. The only thing about him that was off-putting to the SVU squad was he was known for defending some extremely dangerous criminals. That's how him and Casey met she went up against him to put a rapist behind bars. She won, and he asked her out.

"And I wish you two the best," Olivia ended the toast.

The group wrapped up the evening, and went home. Marcus got the last of his boxes, and set foot in Casey's apartment for the first time as a resident. He moved into her place because it was closer to both of their offices than his.

"I love you. We are going to be so happy together." Marcus held her close to him on the couch.

It had never been spoken, but everyone, including them, assumed that was just the practice run, and that they would soon get married. They seemed perfect together. It was like one completed the other.

Casey was known for being devoted to her career. When she was a child all her friends would talk about how they would grow up to be moms and wives. Casey had different plans. She wanted to be a lawyer. She had always dreamed of that and only that. Until Marcus came along she never gave much thought to marriage—let alone motherhood, but after him all that changed.

While at first Casey seemed even happier than she had been the whole year, as the weeks went by she gradually mellowed down. Fin and Munch didn't notice it, but Elliot and Olivia sure did.

"We got her," Casey announced the news about their latest perp; a female accused of molesting her friend's young son. "She'll serve at least twenty years before parole."

Normally a win like that would make Casey proud, but the team saw general indifference. She congratulated the detectives, and left the precinct.

"What's with her?" Fin asked his colleagues.

The rest of the unit went about their business, but Olivia followed Casey out of the precinct. "Hey, Casey," Olivia called. She caught up with her on the steps outside.

"Yes," Casey answered.

"You seemed pretty out of it today. Are you okay?"

Casey shook her head, dismissing Olivia's concern. "I'm fine. I guess I'm just tired."

"You didn't seem like yourself yesterday or the day before or all last week either."

Casey looked beyond Olivia. She seemed like she wanted to talk, but she wasn't.

"What's going on?"

Casey returned her gaze to Olivia, and cleared her throat. "Nothing. Everything's great. It's like I said, just tired." Casey feigned a smile, and continued walking down the steps. Olivia let her go, but didn't buy her story.

Casey finished her day's work, and went home. As she was walking up the steps she was thinking; thinking about anything wrong she may have done that day. She went over all the things Marcus liked done in the morning, and all the things that she hadn't done in the past, that she came to regret. Washed the dishes—washed them well, left the bathroom clean, made the bed, I'm home just when I said I would be. Sounds like I remembered everything. Her thoughts comforted her, and she walked into the apartment with a smile—he wasn't as happy.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked. He always lost his temper the exact same way each time. First, he may seem aggravated, but was reasonably calm, second, he always made it look like he was having trouble controlling his anger; like he was trying to be sensible, but she kept saying things that eventually would push him over the edge. "You said you'd be here at four-thirty."

"No," Casey's heart started racing, and she hated to correct him, but she did. "I said five-thirty."

She immediately realized that her life would have been significantly easier that night if she had just pretended he was right and apologized. He would have gone a lot easier on her. He may not have done anything at all. That was the main thing Marcus liked—to be right, and not questioned. When he got that he was usually satisfied. But what she was living was all new territory for her. She wasn't used to abuse; therefore, she wasn't used to—or good at—preventing it. She wasn't abused as a child, and she had barely ever even been yelled at by a boyfriend. The most Marcus had ever done was a lot of yelling, some shoving, and very little slapping. What he did that evening was like nothing she had ever seen or felt before.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No--"

"Oh, so I must just be crazy."

"No, of course not, but I said five-thirty."

"No," he was still calm, "you didn't."

"Marcus, let's not do this again. What difference does it make? I'm here now, and---"

Those would be the last words Casey would say that night. Marcus carried his unconscious, bruised girlfriend from the living room floor to the bedroom, and left her on the bed. He was still enraged, but he always knew when to stop. He had defended enough men charged with beating their wives to death to know how important it was to quit when he was ahead.

The next morning Casey opened her eyes. Her entire body was aching. She looked at the digital clock on the bed post. It read six-thirty, so it wasn't a surprise that Marcus wasn't lying next to her. He always left the house at six every morning. She engaged in a struggle with her own body—it wanted to rest, she wanted to get ready for work. When she finally made it to the bathroom she gasped at the sight of her own face.

While the side of her jaw only had a small, light colored bruise, her eye was dark purple. She panicked at the thought of how she would explain the marks to her colleagues. She could have stayed home for a couple of days, but bruises take up to a week to heal, and if she spent a week out of work someone would be coming to deliver paperwork, and wanting her to sign documents.

She frantically went through the medicine cabinet looking for cover-up. She had no problem covering the mark on her jaw, but her eye was a bit more complicated. The cover-up only made the bruise less apparent and faded. But for the life of her she couldn't hide it entirely. This will have to do. She dressed in a long sleeved blouse to cover the bruises on her arms. She was able to wear a skirt—like she usually did—because her legs were unmarked.

Casey had the entire ride to work to come up with believable excuses for the bruise on her eye. She wouldn't dare try the standard, most commonly heard, I fell, excuse. It had to be something that could easily cause a black eye. It took the whole twenty minute drive to come up with it, but Casey had her excuse—it wasn't a good one, but it would have to do.

The first person she would try her lie out on would be the District Attorney.

"What happened to you?" the D.A. asked.

"Last night I went in the kitchen to get a glass of water. It was dark, and I couldn't really see much. I reached for the handle of the refrigerator, but I pulled the freezer open instead. I hit myself in the face with the freezer door."

"That's the first time I ever heard that one. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt."

That wasn't entirely untrue. It did hurt, but she hardly noticed it because it paled in comparison to the rest of her throbbing body.

Casey gave a few more people the explanation, and got to work. It was late afternoon when she got a call from the Special Victims Unit asking for a warrant. She was able to obtain the search warrant, and she brought it to the home Elliot, Olivia, Fin, and Munch were standing in front of; along with numerous other cops waiting to get in that house. It was such a big case even Cragen was there—but mostly to supervise.

Everyone noticed the black eye, and the bruise on her jaw that the faded make-up revealed. But with a sex offender, and possible murderer about to walk they couldn't stop to discuss it. However, once the search was over Olivia went straight to the A.D.A.'s place of business, and confronted her. She had to go over there anyway to discuss the charges of the man whose home they raided.

"And hopefully our witnesses will be able to convince the jury he raped and killed those women, and we'll get a conviction….several convictions," Casey told Olivia.

"Good. Cause I really want to nail this guy. We've been tracking him for months. I'll see you at his arraignment."

"Yes, it's Thursday. Ten o'clock."

"I'll be there. Oh, yeah, with all this going on I never got a chance to ask you about your eye," Olivia said.

Casey told her what she told everyone else.

"And the mark on your chin?"

"What?" Casey hadn't been in front of a mirror in a while. She then realized what Olivia was referring to, and pulled out a compact mirror with the cover-up, and hid the bruise.

"Casey, did something happen to you?" Olivia asked a little more concerned than she was when the conversation began.

"I told you," she repeated the lie.

Olivia didn't know what to make of that. She knew she was being lied to. She scanned Casey for anymore discolored areas. But her face and legs were the only parts of her that were exposed. It only took a second for Olivia to figure out what must have happened. There were a million things that could have happened, but what she had in mind seemed to be the most likely of the rest. The two of them stared at each other for a while; both with a look of fear. Casey's mind was trying to come up with explanations. And, if worse came to worse, and she had to tell Olivia the truth, excuses for Marcus's misconduct.

"Casey," Olivia said softy; her voice filled with grief. She intended to say more after that, but her mind was blank.

Casey stood from her desk. "It's not what you think," she said nervously.

"What is it then?"

"…Please," Casey pleaded, "Don't say anything to anyone, please."

That statement hit Olivia like a ton of bricks. Even when she figured out what was happening she was hoping she was wrong, and that Casey was about to give her a logical, truthful explanation; one that would make her feel foolish about thinking Marcus was anything less than what she first perceived him to be—a kind, decent, debonair man. But Olivia's first impression was dead wrong, and now she knew without a doubt there was another side to Marcus Bradford.

Olivia reached out her arm, and placed her hand on Casey's shoulder. "You need help. Let---"

"No. I need to work this out for myself."

"You're not thinking of staying with him, are you?"

Casey was silent.

"Casey, you know about this as well as I do. This won't change. It's only gonna get worse."

"That wasn't him. That's not the man I fell in love with. Something must be wrong."

"No, Casey. It just took him this long to show you who he is."

"I have to get back to work. Please close the door on your way out." Casey went back to her desk, and sat behind it.

Olivia was at a loss for words. She had said all she could say. She spent a few more seconds trying to think of something else to tell her, but she couldn't. Olivia sighed, and followed Casey's request.

"What's with you?" Elliot asked. Olivia had strolled into the squadroom with a distant look about her face.

She didn't know how to answer Elliot's question. She didn't feel it was her place to tell him what she found out. But she wanted to. If for nothing else, to get his advice on what she should do. Maybe if they had been alone she might have told him, but Fin and Munch, were there. Cragen's door was open, and six other officers were within hearing distance as well.

"Nothing," Olivia said. She looked around at the full squadroom, and back at Elliot. She gave him a look that said she knew he wouldn't buy her lie, and there was something to discuss, but that was not the time.

He got the message and nodded, then looked back down at his work.

Olivia sat at her desk, and did the same.

"Hey, you find out what happened to Novak?" Fin asked her.

"Yeah, freak accident. Long story," Olivia said.

He bought it, and went back to what he was doing.

It was after dark by the time the SVU squad was finished for the day. Olivia and Elliot were the last to leave. On their way out Elliot remembered what he wanted to ask her about.

"So what was wrong with you after you went to see Novak?"

They were in front of the elevator. She was about to press the button—she didn't. "I don't even know if I can tell you."

"You can tell me anything. What is it?"

"Okay, but only because I don't know what to do. I mean if I nag her about it she will pull away more, and if I just leave her alone she could be in real danger, if---"

"If you tell me what you're talking about I can help. Right now I can't do anything."

"It's Casey. Marcus has been hitting her."

"Marcus? Marcus Bradford?"

"Shocking, I know. I tried to talk to her about leaving. She wouldn't discuss it. The problem is…well part of the problem is I can't tell if she wants to leave, but is too scared or she loves him, and isn't ready to give up yet."

Elliot was still coming out of the shock. It wasn't like that was the first time he had ever heard of anyone doing that. It was just the first time he had ever been that surprised that someone he liked so much was so different than he ever imagined.

"Elliot," Olivia said, "are you here?"

"Yeah, I just can't believe it. Are you sure? Did she say that?"

"Just about. I'm sure, El." Olivia pushed the elevator button. She was more than ready to go home, and it didn't look like Elliot was going to be of any help. "Nevermind. Just don't say anything, huh?"

"I won't." He and her stepped into the empty elevator. "Don't you think we should do something?"

"Yes. I do. But I don't know what. We've seen this before; it's very hard to make these women leave. I'll talk to her the next time I see her…if I can take her aside. Today she was shaken up because I found out. Maybe some other time she'll be more cooperative."

Casey walked into her apartment, and the first thing she saw was Marcus's smiling face. The two of them had a great evening, and, like she always did when he turned on the charm, she felt like she was falling in love with him all over again. He never mentioned or apologized for his rage. When it was over it was over; it was never brought up by either of them again. When he wasn't angry they went back to being the couple they started out as.

It was nights like that one that reminded Casey why she was in the relationship to begin with. The negative aspect of it was when he was good he was very good. His charm made her think that he was a perfect gentleman, and if there was something wrong with the two of them it must be of her own doing.

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Next Chapter: What does a serial killer have in common with Casey Novak?