It was the Friday before Valentine's, John had decided to take Casey out for a big evening on the town; dinner, a Broadway show, dessert afterward, and then well, whatever she wanted. He actually hoped they would end up spending the weekend together. He was running late because of a case, and so had asked her to meet him at his place. He'd just finished changing into a grey shirt and a black brushed-velvet jacket when his doorbell rang.
"Just a second babe," he called as he made his way to the door.
He threw open the door and then nearly fell over in shock.
"Alex," –
"Hi John! Wow, don't you look great?" Alex said.
John stood in the open doorway and made no move to invite Alex into his apartment.
"Uh, Can I come in?" she asked hesitantly.
"No, I'm going out," he answered curtly.
"Meeting the gang from SVU?" Alex asked hopefully.
"No, I have a date," he answered harshly.
"Oh."
"Look, what did you expect. You let me think you were dead for a year and a half. When I finally learned you were alive, I find out that Olivia and Elliot knew all along that you were in Witness Protection. You told them, but not me, and then when you come back to testify, you don't spend any time with me. You're off again and don't come back for another year," he recited the details of the last few years bitterly and she couldn't do anything but stand there and take in his angry words.
"So now what, you're back for good, are you? Do you think you can just waltz in here, and we'll pick up where we left off? Sorry Alex, that's not how it works. Now if you don't mind, I'd really rather you weren't here when my date arrived."
"That would be rather awkward for you, wouldn't it?" Alex said, she turned on her heel and walked rapidly away, unwilling to let John see how much his words had hurt her.
John closed his apartment door, breathing hard. He walked over to his bar and poured himself a drink of vodka. He downed it and tried to calm himself.
Alex knew what she was about to do would not classify as normal behavior, but she couldn't help herself, she had to know whom John was dating. She parked her car near his apartment building's main entrance but just out of sight, so she could see him leave with his date.
The next knock on John's door was Casey. She sensed something was wrong, but decided to say nothing about it. She told herself it was probably just the case he'd been working, and hopefully an evening on the town together would solve things. If not, then she'd smooth things out later in bed.
"Damn!" she said out loud to herself, as she saw Casey come out of the building on John's arm. Casey looked radiant in a royal blue velvet dress with a large white satin collar, her strawberry red hair done up like a starlet's. John hailed a town car and off they went.
Alex sat for a moment, stunned. All she could think was, 'that pretty little bitch has stolen everything that was mine. She has my job and my lover.' Frustrated and angry, Alex jammed her car into gear and drove away from John's apartment complex fast enough to risk getting a ticket. She had to talk to someone, and she knew just who.
Olivia turned the TV on, trying to find something worth watching on a Friday night. She quickly realized she would either be watching something she'd prerecorded or maybe surfing the Internet. 'God,' she thought 'I'm turning into a real loser, home on a Friday night.' Just as she'd made that depressing self-evaluation, her doorbell rang. She hopped up quickly with the hopeful thought of some company for the evening.
"Alex," she said with a note of surprise, when she saw her old friend standing at her door. She knew Alex was suppose to be returning to Manhattan, now that all the people who could threaten her life had either died or been sent to prison, but she hadn't known when she would return. "Come in."
"Thanks," Alex said shakily.
"What's wrong?" Olivia asked, guiding Alex into her apartment, and taking her coat and things from her. "Can I get you something?"
Alex nodded, and Olivia got her a glass of brandy. Once Alex had had a few sips of the brandy, she began telling Olivia about her meeting with John and her little surveillance job. Olivia stayed silent just letting Alex get it all out. Aside from wanting to let Alex get the whole story out without interruption, Olivia was torn. She was a friend to all three people in this situation, and she didn't want to see any of them get hurt, yet she couldn't see how else it could come out.
"Olivia what am I going to do? I want him back," she said simply.
"I don't know Alex. You can't force him to change his mind or his heart," Olivia said.
"I know and he's so angry, so hurt. I made a terrible mistake not letting him know about the Witness Protection Program, but I didn't think I could see him and still be strong enough to leave," she tried to explain her actions.
"You could have told me or Elliot to let him know. It was heart-breaking to watch him grieving for you," Olivia told Alex, and immediately regretted it, as she watched her very strong friend teeter on the verge of tears.
"God, and I wasn't even faithful to him," Alex choked out through the tears she was still trying to hold back.
"Alex you can't beat yourself up like this. You had no idea if you would ever be able to come back." Alex nodded her head, but Olivia wasn't sure she really agreed.
"How long has he been seeing her?" Alex asked, unable to say Casey's name.
"I'm not sure. They went public when he got shot this fall, but I think they may have been together before that," Olivia said.
"How serious are they?" Alex wanted to know.
"John said something about taking Casey to Maryland for Passover to meet his family," Olivia said.
Alex's eyes grew large, but she didn't say anything for a while. Finally she said, "Well, I'm not giving him up without a fight." Olivia just nodded.
"John, it's been a wonderful evening. I don't want it to end," Casey said as they exited the restaurant they'd gone to after the musical.
"It doesn't have to, if you don't want it to," he said.
She smiled at him, and then uttered the classic line, "Your place or mine?"
"Yours," he answered and then hailed a cab. She wondered about the odd expression that had crossed John's face for a moment as he answered her.
