Ch.1
After seven years of working for Manhattan's Special Victims Unit, Alex Cabot didn't know how she had managed to stick through it for so long. Today had been a day like many others; signing warrants, watching interrogations, and listening to pathetic defense attorneys try to cut deals for their clients. Just as Alex thought the day was coming to an end and that she would be relieved of her job's stress until tomorrow, she got a call from Liz Donnelly, her supervisor, informing her that she would be overseeing a new ADA who would share her case load in SVU. Being someone who preferred to work alone, Alex was not pleased to hear this news, but she knew better than to argue with Liz this late. So, she reluctantly agreed without complaint and went back to finishing up the day's work.
It's not uncommon to have horrific days in SVU. But today made every other day seem pleasant. The team was relying on one witness to make a positive ID on a serial rapist. Normally that would be a good thing, except the star witness was a nine-year-old girl. As the other detectives were looking for more evidence to further incriminate the perp, Olivia was explaining to Alex that even though the girl saw him, she didn't think she was ready or strong enough to ID her attacker, let alone testify in court. Just as Alex was about to call off the line-up, she heard a voice behind her.
"Excuse me, are you Alex Cabot? I'm Casey Novak. The new ADA?"
Before Alex even had a chance to speak, she began talking again.
"So, where are we on the case...I read the file and I saw we have a witness who can ID the perp. Have you done the line up yet?"
"Uh…" Alex stupidly stammered, taken aback by her new co-worker's forward demeanor. "We…aren't doing a line up. The victim isn't strong enough and didn't get a good look at him. Even if she got lucky and picked him out in a line-up, the defense will argue that she's an unreliable witness."
"So? If they make that argument then we'll try to have it overruled. I say we go ahead with the lineup."
At hearing this, Alex felt her eyes widen and her entire face begin to heat up with anger. After all the stress this case has put on everyone, what place did this woman from the white-collar department have to come and question her decision? And on her first day no less. As Alex stood from her chair to face Casey, she knew everyone in earshot was listening. Only Alex's colleagues could get away with questioning her judgment, and even they would get an earful. Normally, she probably would've just blown it off. After all, it was her first day and she probably didn't know anything about the infamous ice-queen and how harsh she could be even on her best days.
"Oh, you're right," Alex stated. For a second she knew Casey thought she was about to be praised for her 'good suggestion.'
"I forgot you've worked in sex crimes…and that you were watching from outside the interview room when you heard this child's statement about how she was brutally raped. And I forgot you saw the horrified look on her face when we asked her if she thought she'd be able to make an ID of her attacker." Casey just stood there. A look of embarrassment spread across her face; but in that moment, Alex didn't care. "But in case you forgot, I was assigned to be your supervisor. Not the other way around. You don't get to come in here and start calling the shots on your first day. You think just because you read the file you know all there is to know about this case?"
"No…I…" Casey started to apologize, but Alex cut her off.
"Until you practically live here like the rest of us trying to build this case, you don't even get to suggest what we should do. You can sit here and watch. Is that clear?"
Alex felt like her face was about to melt off by the time she finished speaking. She knew everyone had heard her. She hadn't even tried to be quiet…or professional for that matter. Still glaring at Casey, she noticed she had gone extremely pale, which made her green eyes look extremely bright. "And really pretty," Alex thought to herself.
"Ok." Casey muttered.
The rest of the day seemed to be never ending. Alex could feel Casey watching her every move, waiting to be acknowledged. Alex, however, wasn't interested in even making eye contact with Casey the rest of the night. All she cared about was how fast she could get home to her apartment and her bottle of wine.
At roughly 3 a.m., Alex came to the conclusion that there wasn't much more she could do for the case that couldn't wait until later. She said goodbye to the detectives and the captain, and as she was leaving she heard Casey's voice behind her ask, "Am I allowed to leave?" Alex turned around to face her and said "For now, when I leave, you leave. And when I get here, you better be here too."
Once Alex arrived home, she had hoped she'd be able to unwind with her wine and crossword, but she couldn't get the day's events off her mind. Normally, it would be the case that distracted her. The shaken victims, the awful crimes, and mostly the strain of making a good case often kept her awake at night. But tonight those things weren't what was on her mind. It was Casey. Though, Alex wasn't sure what it was about Casey that was causing her to think about her. Sure, Alex had undoubtedly been a complete bitch to Casey and embarrassed her in front of her colleagues on her first day…but that wasn't what Alex's mind kept going back to. For some reason, it was her eyes. She had pretty eyes, Alex supposed. They were bright green and stood out immensely in comparison to Casey's dark red hair and fair skin. Maybe it wasn't her eyes themselves, but the expression in them when she looked at her, Alex guessed. Maybe the sad, ashamed look in them was haunting Alex for being so cold, she assumed. So far, that was the only logical explanation she could come to as to why she couldn't stop thinking about Casey Novak's eyes.
A/N:
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