Disclaimer: I don't own these characters
Casey Novak sits with her shoulders hunched as she stares at herself in the mirror. She looks at herself through red rimmed eyes, her fingers flexing and tensing repeatedly against the tape surrounding them. Focusing her mind on her breathing, she inhales and exhales audibly; two counts in, four counts out, three counts in, six counts out, four counts in, eight counts out. It's like clockwork for her, a type of clockwork that's been drilled into her routine to where she feels like she can't focus without it.
A light, yet bitter chuckle escapes her lips as she catches her own reflection in the mirror once again. If she being completely honest with herself, she looks like complete shit and in the back of her mind she knows that she's not the only one who realizes it. She hadn't rested well the night before. In fact, she was more preoccupied with…extracurricular activities, activities that would have her manager crawling up her ass in a slick heartbeat.
Her satin scarlet robe sits draped over her shoulders with the hood draped over her head. She looks down at her taped hands once more and begins flexing them but this time it's more out of nervous habit as she fights the urge to make a dive for the cigarettes stashed in her workout bag or the brown paper bag stashed under all her clothes. Any thoughts of her coveted items are abandoned as the door swings open jarring her from her silent internal battle.
"Ah Novak! What're ya doin?" The loud voice of her manager/best friend Abbie Carmichael rings through the small room. "You look like you've been kicked in the gut and the fight hasn't even started. I would've thought you'd be more pumped than this. What's getting at you?"
Shaking her head at first, Casey can't help but roll her eyes a few seconds later when she is greeted by a sound of disapproval which stated that Abbie wasn't happy with her nonverbal response. "Nothing." She responds tightly, though her voice has no mirth or excitement to it. "Just thinking."
"Well I need you to do more than think! I need you to prepare, I need to you to be in the zone!" Abbie exclaims as she crosses the room and places her hands on the other woman's shoulders. She is silent for a moment before a small sigh escapes her lips. She's noticed that for the past month and a half, Casey has been like this practically before every fight. What was once the woman who was a magnificent sphere of energy before stepping into the cage now just sat and had a staring match with herself in the mirror and she can't help but wonder when it all started to change.
Quirking an eyebrow at her reflection, the redhead lets out an apprehensive sigh. She briefly glances down at her hands, clenching them tightly and watching the veins protrude for a quick moment. A few seconds, or minutes pass before she looks up once again, green eyes staring back at her. The eyes are hard and focused yet somehow passionate. This is part of her routine. This is what she does.
She steps back from the mirror and stretches her arms above her head, stretching out her muscles and simultaneously popping her fingers. Shaking out her hands, she begins to roll her shoulders and her neck as she continuous to loosen her muscles. A knock on the door rouses her from her internal monologue preps.
"How you feeling baby? You ready to rock this thing?" Abbie's enthusiastic voice breaks her from her stupor as she massages Casey's shoulders.
Arching an eyebrow, the Casey steps away and eyes the other women with a fair amount of amusement and a small hint of annoyance. She shakes her head and continues her stretching without so much as a glance or a response. Maybe if she ignores her, she'll go away.
Unfortunately, this doesn't have the desired effect.
"Seriously, Case? I've gotten us this far. I can't even have just a little bit of excitement from you once?"
At this the Casey makes a noise that is a cross between a scoff and a snort. "I'm still not sure whether it's you or me that has gotten us this far." She responds, a well-knowing smirk tugging at her lips. Said smirk fades quickly when she is rewarded with a silent response. "Relax Moneybags, it was a joke." She grumbles half-heartedly.
"Cool it with the nickname. If that were the case, I would be getting paid for being your manager and your trainer." Abbie huffs as she crosses her arms tightly over her chest. Seeing that the other woman is blatantly ignoring her now, she sighs heavily. She glances around the dressing room trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. It's not that she's looking for anything, per say, but…okay well yeah, she's looking for something.
"Something I can help you with?"
The voice snaps Abbie out of her analysis and a sheepish grin appears on her face. "Just, you know, checking out the place. Gotta make sure that they're giving you the best, you know?"
"Or you're looking for something that's not supposed to be here." Is the clipped response. Stopping her stretches, Casey Novak clenches her jaw tightly, scoffing when the sheepish look on her comrade's face gives her the answer she's looking for.
"Look, I'm just trying to check on you, alright? Just trying to make sure you're okay." Abbie huffs with a shrug. "It's part of my job as your manager, your trainer, and your best friend."
The two stare each other down for a long time before Casey looks away first and goes back to rolling her shoulders. "I haven't done anything…" she mumbles so quietly that Abbie almost misses it.
"Good. Good. That's good." Abbie sighs in relief. It isn't that she doesn't trust Casey. That's far from the truth. She just can't help that she worries about Casey more often than she feels like she should. Glancing down at her watch, Abbie gives the taller woman a clap on the shoulder.
"C'mon, we should get moving. Wouldn't want to keep the people waiting."
Alex Cabot bristles as she makes her way through the rather busy office area. She isn't surprised that people are running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. It's usually this way when they are mere hours before an important deadline.
She side steps an intern who is rushing about with a stack of papers so high that Alex is surprised that he can even see where he's going. Shaking her head and sparing a small chuckle, she remembers when that used to be her.
Alex had gone to college and majored in journalism and marketing, much to her parent's disappointment. The two had wanted her to follow in their footsteps in majoring in either business or political science before going on to becoming a major business mogul or a senator. But that hadn't been her dream.
Alex's dream was to become head editor for a major magazine. Sure, to some people it seems like a small aspiration, but for Alex, it was her goal in life. Journalism was her passion and if she were going to spend the rest of her life working then she sure as hell wanted to be doing a job that she loved.
Upon graduating college, she had gotten a paid internship at In Depth magazine where she had quickly gone from an intern to getting an offer for a position as a writer. Alex couldn't have more ecstatic as she saw this as a step in the right direction for her goal.
Currently, she finds herself nearly running through the office (or running as much as she can in high heels), in order to make it to the meeting she has scheduled with her boss. The meeting that Alex coincidentally forgot about until last minute.
Pausing outside the door, Alex takes the time to catch her breath before knocking. Upon hearing the terse 'come in' she steps into the office and plasters a wide small across her lips. Unfortunately for her, the other woman does not seem impressed.
"I sure hope you have a good reason for being," Elizabeth Donnelly pauses to catch a glimpse at her watch "Fifteen minutes late to our meeting. Surely the traffic in the hallways weren't that bad to where they could've kept you from being here on time."
"Well you know me. I got caught up with the piece I was working on and I just…" Alex trails off with an awkward laugh.
At this, Liz raises her eyebrows in interest. "Oh? I wasn't aware you were working on something new."
"Well I mean it's not…new…actually I shouldn't even call it a piece. It's just…it's nothing." The younger blonde rambles before dropping into one of Liz's guest chairs. "So…you wanted to speak with me?"
"I did actually. It works out since you're not working on your 'nothing', at the moment." Liz starts with smirk. For being in charge of In Depth magazine, Liz does harbor a soft spot for some of her employees; Alex being one of them. She sees a lot of potential in the young blonde, and knowing that her parents don't support her dream, Liz can't help but see a little bit of herself in Alex. However, it is because she cares so much that she tends to push Alex a lot harder than any of her other writers. "I have an opportunity of a feature for you."
Alex's eyes widen at the mention of a feature piece. Features tend to get the most recognition in their issues and she is over the moon excited for the potential opportunity of writing one. "Oh my gosh, are you serious?"
"As a heart attack." Liz responds with a chuckle at the young woman's excitement. "Jill had to take off for a family emergency and there's no possible way for her to get the story in by her deadline. She needs someone to take over for her, and I couldn't think of anyone better for the job."
Alex's smile falters a bit at hearing the details. "Um, wasn't Jill working on a sports feature?" she questions, her eyes widening when is given a slight nod in response. "Liz! I-I don't know anything about sports. I mean, there's a reason Jill is one of your sports writers, right? I'll need to find a subject and a photographer and…"
"You have plenty of time before the deadline. I'm sure that you will come up with something good." Liz offers with a small smile. "Every great writer must be able to adjust to their publication Alex. You can't just be comfortable writing on one specific thing. If you are to be an editor one day, you have to fit in everywhere."
"You really want me to do this don't you." Alex offers with a sigh.
"I couldn't think of anyone one better." Liz repeats again with a smirk as she leans back in her chair. "Who knows. If you can pull this off, then perhaps there is potential for an assistant editor position in your future."
At this, Alex's eyes widen once again. A promotion. If she can nail this feature story, then she'll be considered for a promotion. All she has to do is produce a kick ass story in which she has no knowledge or expertise, should be easy right?
"I won't let you down Liz. Thanks so much for this opportunity." Alex beams, making her way around the desk to give the older woman a hug. She has always seen Liz as a motherly figure as opposed to her own mother who wants nothing to do with her. "Now I just need to find a subject."
"Then I suppose you should get moving." Liz offers, giving Alex a nudge. "I expect nothing less than perfection."
"You got it." Alex responds with a thumbs up before exiting the office. Outside, she gives a small yip in excitement before making her way to the break room to share her good news.
Upon entering the break room, she is not surprised to find her core group of friends already surrounding their usual table. The only exception is that Olivia and Amanda seem to be very engrossed with something on the television.
"So…I just got the most exciting new!" Alex exclaims, speaking mostly to Serena and Kim. "Liz just handed off Jill's feature to me and she says that if I can do a solid job on it that I'll be considered for assistant editor!"
"YEAH!" Liv and Amanda exclaims simultaneously, startling the other women.
Rolling her eyes as the other two, Serena beams at her best friend. "That's incredible Al! This is what you've always wanted right?"
"Yeah, congratulations." Kim offers with a soft smile. "What was Jill's feature on again?"
"It's supposed to be a sports feature. That's my speedbump right now because honestly, I haven't ever written anything for sports before."
"Well I'm sure that Olivia will be more than happy to help you." Serena speaks in the direction of her fiancée who is one of the regular sports writers.
"YES!" Liv exclaims once again, however, she and Amanda are still mainly focused on the TV.
Kim rolls her eyes and is the first to speak up, drawing the other two women away from whatever they're watching. "Honestly, you two? Alex has exciting news and you can't look away from the TV for five seconds to congratulate her."
Both women actually have the grace to look embarrassed as they murmur apologies to the amused blonde.
"It's fine. What are you two watching anyway?" Alex asks, narrowing her eyes at the television. She takes in the two women on the screen, but she is mostly focused on the woman with her crimson hair done into a tight braid. Her eyes examine the woman's sports bra and compression short clad body, admiring the tone and definition. She notices the tattoos on the woman's arms but she's mostly entranced by the fierce bird that decorates the woman's side. All in all, this woman is sexy and Alex doesn't realize she's staring so intently at the television until she feels a slight pinch.
"Ow. Sorry." She mumbles, swallowing thickly. "What're you watching?"
"The fight from last night." Amanda exclaims, still beaming at the TV.
"Yeah, I missed it because someone wanted to go out to dinner." Olivia teases, glancing in Serena's direction, grinning when the blonde sticks out her tongue.
Alex continues to watch as what appears to be a referee step in between the two women. She watches the redhaired woman retreat to a corner of the cage where a dark haired woman is waiting on the other side. The other woman appears to be yelling and pointing to the other end of the cage. The redhead simply nods and pulls her mouth guard from her mouth, working her jaw for a moment before replacing it. She nods once more, knocks fists with the brunette through the cage and returns to where the ref is waiting.
She rolls her shoulders and nods at the ref before he signals the restart of the match. She resumes her fighting position before her opponent charges forward. All it takes are two solid punches from the redhead before the other woman is floored.
Alex actually winces upon seeing the two rapid punches. The ref checks on the downed woman who has yet to move before he signals the end of the match. He holds up the redhead's arm, drawing cheers from Liv, Amanda, and a few others in the breakroom.
"Who is that?" Alex whispers, not realizing that she has spoken out loud until she gets a response.
"The Phoenix!" Amanda exclaims, still buzzing from the match.
"Phoenix?" Alex mumbles, thinking back to the woman's tattoos.
"Casey Novak." Liv chimes in, now fully directing her attention to the other women now that the fight is over. "She the top MMA fighter in the world. The best for both men and women if you ask me. Hell, I've seen her knock out a few dudes before."
Alex thinks for a moment crossing her arms. "Liv, you've done sports pieces. How hard is it to get into contact with a subject?"
Liv shrugs. "It depends on the subject. I mean, we'd have to contact managers and agents and draw up contracts and such. Some people are just easier to reach out to than others. Why?"
"Because I think I might've found my subject." She responds in a wistful voice. "Looks like I need to make a few phone calls."
A/N: *pokes head out of bunker* hey guys…remember me? It's…well, it has been a while hasn't it? Life has…wow life has been a total kick in the face. But here I am! Hopefully you guys are still around. I miss all of you guys.
Sadly the last thing I posted isn't going anywhere because of personal reasons, but, this is something I've been playing with for quite some time now. I want to do some character exploring her, so Casey is going to be a little OOC in this one. I do have a second chapter to this already written so let me know if you want to see anymore. I'll post it as soon as I get some feedback on this. And being five months pregnant does give me a little bit of down time so hopefully I can get back into the swing of things.
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