AN: Greetings, readers. Tis I, the author. I present to you this fic, which is presently kicking my ass to write. It's not my first attempt at something of this magnitude, but it's probably my biggest. Special thanks to Trish also known as the epicness, woundedbutterfly for constantly bitching at me to keep this fic going. Woman, you slay me. Reviews are greatly appreciated, though I won't beat you over the head with demands to do so. At the least, please tell me what you think. Without further ado, on to the story.

PS, suspension of believe of the present world that is SVU is recommended. Things are about to get crazy.

Sugarcane: Chapter 1

"And, that concludes our top story for the hour. Coming up later this evening: Adam Daschlund. Why Hollywood loves him, and why you should too."

"Yes, the big screen's newest golden boy speaks exclusively with BSTV about his upcoming film Cash for a Cradle, set to hit theaters nationwide on May 22nd. Adam stars as Landon Ochran, a washed up Broadway mogul who spends his dime as fast and irrationally as he spends his women, soon leaving him near out on his ear with no place to go. Nowhere, that is, but the stage. Ochran yanks himself up by his wingtips and attempts to put his money, and maybe a woman, back to rights by rehanging his name in lights. This is said to be one of his most challanging roles, yet."

"You know, Hahn, I agree. If what we're promised in the previews stays true to form this will be Adam's number one role!"

"Number one in deed, Cara. We'll have more on that tonight, as well as his appearance on the upcoming special edition of Past to the Future, where BSTV will be taking a gander back at the Broadway stars from Let Them Eat Cake, and where they are now. Many of the late and great took to the stage to make Let Them Eat Cake a masterpiece, from Adam's own parents Keady and Angelo Daschlund, to young Andrea Buchanan and the breakout star performer Ella Canne."

"What makes this a special edition of the show for us, and you viewers at home, is not only will we be looking at the lives of those stars, but also at the lives of their families who had a hand in bringing Let Them Eat Cake to life. The stories will be told through the voice of the children. Next week BSTV will begin airing the special in five segments starting with the making of Let Them Eat Cake on Monday, Andrea Buchanan on Tuesday night, Wednesday will be all about unaforementioned costar Tinsel Regent, Thursday we will focus on the Daschlund family, and last, but definitely not least, the program will wrap up with the Ella Canne segment on Friday, followed by a live commentary immediately afterwards, featuring the cast and families of the show."

"Remember to set your Tivo's for that one, folks! It's going to be a treat for everyone."

"It sure is, Hahn. We haven't had this much excitement here at BSTV in quite a while. I'm Cara Jensen. With me is Hahn Ashby. This is Back Stage Television with Entertainment Now. We'll see you this evening."

Casey flicked off the television set with the remote and let it drop to the sofa with a sigh. She was getting tired of this shit, the never ending advertising that the entertainment world thrived on. It'd been a long while since any adverts laid their eyes on her, and honestly, she didn't miss it. Casey rose to pace the ample walking space in her office. Though she hadn't wanted to be plugged in as the new ADA for Manhattan's Special Victims Unit, the perks were nice. Big, spacey room enough for a mini lounge area in part to her monstrosity of a desk and many book cases, and a private conference room. The little coat closet was handy, too.

But, there was no letting all of this get to her head. The bitch that is paperwork she thought was a scream while prosecuting White Collar Crimes grew into a full on beast that haunted her night and day. Plus, the cases she was now in charge of were a little more heartbreaking, a lot more hopeless. The violence. The violation. The victims. This was the biggest reason why Casey wanted Homicide instead: every victim was dead. She couldn't stand to look into the eyes of survivors and witness the evidence of their pain. And, there was no such thing as black and white, here. In Homicide the taking of another life is wrong and punishable by law in every way, shape or form. In this world of gray, sometimes the victims were perps, perps were victims or there just wasn't a lot that could be done. Casey hated to admit that she felt she wasn't doing much good within these walls. She didn't feel worthy enough, nor strong enough to withstand the burden to bring special victims justice. Casey felt powerful within her means, the strict word of the law, cold hard facts of evidence. Within SVU, the strict law often demanded nonsense, cold fact melted into heated debate. First chance she got, she wanted out.

The detective watched her through the open blinds of the windows. Watched how she paced a little back and forth, stopped. And, started again. Wondered what was going through her mind. Casey had taken residence in this office for little more than seven months, and still Olivia couldn't quite grasp a handle on the kid- that's exactly how Olivia saw her, a kid. Plenty sure of herself, in that sort of childish know-it-all way. Not completely bright eyed and innocent, but, simply young with a side of near blind faith in the law. Sometimes, if she were honest with herself, Olivia felt that Casey had some growing up to do. She was a good person though, a hard worker. And though they weren't what would be considered friends, Olivia enjoyed the few moments when they got to be women instead of officers and discuss their personal lives instead of criminal profiles.

Turning her head at the slight knock on her door, Casey bade entrance to the woman standing on the other side.

"Detective Benson. What brings you by?" Casey asked, walking back to the sofa to reclaim her seat.

"Ah, nothing, really. I actually just left my jacket in your closet, and I just thought I'd swing by to pick it up."

"Oh, okay." All this way for a jacket in May? Casey thought. "It must have cooled off outside." Casey pointed Olivia to her coat closet, then picked up the remote to turn the television back on. The BDTV newscasters were still harping on that special coming up.

"Yeah, it's gotten pretty breezy out there. It's kinda nice."

Olivia moved to retrieve her sweater, glancing over her shoulder at the television.

"You going to watch that, Casey?"

"If I really had a choice? No, but seeing as I have to be there? Yes."

Olivia nodded, remembering something Casey'd mentioned weeks ago about having to take time off for a drag down memory lane. Slipping her jacket on, she walked back to the sofa to get a closer look at the image on TV. They were running pictures of each featured actor of the series, and there stood Lila Canne in what was coined "all her flaming glory;" hair so red it burned with whitewashed skin and green eyes to match. She was glamorous. There was no other word to describe her. Looking over to Casey on the sofa, Olivia still had a hard time picturing, believing that the ADA was the daughter of a Broadway star. The images just didn't match.

"You're staring, detective." Olivia averted her eyes. But, only for a second.

"Sorry, Casey. It's just kinda weird, you know?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. It's okay. There's always somebody that's just gotta stare. It's all a matter of not letting their eyes look too deep at you. Eventually, they'll look away."

What the hell was she supposed to say to that? Olivia had no clue. "Casey Andromeda Novak... C. A. N. Lila Canne. Your mother really did try to leave her mark on you, didn't she?"

Subject change. Marvelous things, they were.

"Please, stop reminding me."

Touchy subject. Never mind...

"What was that you told me earlier that they called you? Andi Can? How come nobody calls you that anymore? Andi is a cute nickname. And Andromeda is nice." If your parents were space geeks.

"Well, I got the name Andromeda from my dad, who loves astronomy. Mom called him the fan of stars, 'cause well, she was a star. So's Andromeda. But, nobody really called me by that full name. And I guess my mom was trying to be cute and clone herself when she came up with Andi Can. Besides, it's who she wanted me to be. It's not who I am. Couldn't live up to the name, though I tried for her."

A little thrown off and a little intrigued by that answer, Olivia asked, "So, who are you then?"

Casey flicked the screen off again and took a deep sigh. "Just Casey."