The sound of her ringing cellphone startled Casey from her sleep. She registered the sound next to her bed and her eyes popped open. It was bright in her room. Very bright. Gasping, she grabbed the phone and looked at the caller ID.
Liz.
FUCK.
The alarm clock told her what she already knew when she opened the phone. She could already hear the blonde's seething, deathly calm voice on the other end. "Where are you?"
She took a deep breath and tried to hide the sleep from her voice, "I'm sorry, Liz."
"You'd damn sure better be. Where. Are. You."
"I'm still home," she admitted sheepishly. She could hear the frustrated, soft sigh come through the phone.
When Liz finally spoke, her voice was even and her words carefully chosen. "I assume you were late because you were out with your detective. I have given you a lot of flexibility with her, but the fact remains that you are, and always will be mine. What I want you to do is stay home. I have no interest in seeing you right now. Think about what you want, Casey... I have had enough of your selfishness."
The words cut right through her. Casey moved her fingers over the non-descript necklace she wore when she was not with Liz. "Yes, Mistress."
The next thing Casey heard was the click of a disconnected line. Everything in her wanted to get the necklace off so she could breathe, but she knew the second she took it off her world would fall apart. She'd meant to be at Liz's apartment three hours ago. She couldn't remember when she got home last night, she only knew it was late and that she was alone.
Friday had been a rough day. SVU had been chasing a suspect in a kidnapping as well as trying to feverishly locate the seven year old girl he took off the sidewalk. The detectives hadn't slept in three days and they constantly came to Casey with warrant requests she couldn't legally obtain - there was no evidence. The frustration level rose by the hour and finally they caught a break midway through Friday. Someone spotted the car in the Amber Alert, and they raced to get any evidence they could. What they found in the trunk sobered everyone. The girl was dead, clearly tortured and beaten to death. Within hours, anger and horror at what they had seen caused the case to unravel until they tracked the perp down.
That night, everyone was downtrodden and as usual, Olivia approached her for a drink. The women drowned their sorrows in a dive deep in the village and spent the cab ride back to her apartment making out like drunken teenagers. They fell into bed as usual, fucking their frustration out. When they were finished, she pulled her clothes back on, kissed her cheek and got a cab back to her place, where she quickly stumbled into bed and passed out. She completely forgot to set the alarm.
And now, she sat in the silence of her apartment kicking herself for mistreating Liz. She wanted to run to her Mistress, fall at her feet and beg her forgiveness. She learned long ago that that tactic would only hurt her. Pulling her knees to her chest, she pressed her open palms to her eyes and tried to keep from shaking.
She knew she should take a shower, or clean the apartment - something the salvage the day, but she found herself frozen in her bed. She wanted Liz to call her. She wanted to make this right. The only thing she managed to do was grip her pillow and fall asleep, still dressed in her suit from the day before.
When her phone rang again a few hours later, it woke her up again. The light was quickly fading and she sighed. Liz's name was on the caller ID and she hurried to answer it. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she sputtered before even greeting her.
"Get up and let me into the building."
The line went dead. Her eyes widened and she immediately regretted not cleaning. Another thing she would be chastised for. She slid off the bed and buzzed her up, quickly rushing around to clean what she could. It wasn't much, but the elevator ride up to her apartment was long enough to buy her three minutes of manic cleaning. The knock stopped her on the way back from a trip to the sink and she opened the door. Casey only looked at Liz's face for a moment before the blonde let herself in, closed and locked the door with a flick of her wrist, and gripped her thick red hair, leading her back to the bedroom without a word.
Liz wasted no time pushing Casey to her knees and the redhead focused on the decorative rug. She circled her silently for a few minutes, surveying the tense muscles in her neck and back. Every time Casey moved her head to look at her, she places a hand on the back of her head and pushed it down so that she was looking back at the floor.
"I have spent a lot of time thinking today, Casey. I do not like to admit that I have lost something, but I feel like I am losing you." She stopped momentarily and lightly moved her fingers through her submissive's hair. When she spoke again, she pulled her hand back and started to move again, "I don't know that this is worth our time anymore. You don't seem interested in serving me any longer."
Casey's head popped up, "No, Liz... please, it isn't like that-"
"I don't remember saying you could speak," she shoved her head forward, "this is my time."
Casey felt a few tears fall down her cheeks and her body shuddered. All she wanted was to wrap her arms around Liz's legs and beg her not to go. Not to leave her.
Liz spent the next fifteen minutes outlining her every transgression from the last month. Her tardiness, her lack of attention to detail, her drinking, her disrespect. The list went on for what seemed like hours and each mistake she made knocked Casey down another peg until she felt beneath the carpet, melting into the wood floor. Her tears fell harder, her shoulders shaking, nose running. She could understand exactly why Liz would want to be finished with her.
When Liz finally finished, she paused behind her. "I have put a lot of time and energy into this. Into you, Casey. But I am tired. I'm too old to chase you when you don't want the gift I am giving you. You have seven days to decide if this is what you want. In that time, I do not want to see you or speak to you. You are not to spend time alone with your detective. I want you to think very hard about what you are doing, and what you want to do."
From her spot on the floor, she shivered and nodded her understanding.
"I'm going home. You are to remain in this spot until I leave. When you hear me close the door, you may shower and clean this place up. Otherwise, I don't want you leaving the apartment today."
After Casey nodded again, Liz placed a gentle hand on her head and petted for a moment before she pulled her hand away and made an exit, closing the apartment door loud enough to ensure that she heard it.
As soon as she heard the door, Casey let go, crying hysterically. She leaned forward and propped her upper body up on her arms and gasped for air. One week. She had to fix all of this in a week... she just didn't know if it was possible.