Chapter 2:

The attractive young lawyer and her policewoman companion strode into a bar lit with blue lights and sat at a tall table near the back. They were both still in their work clothes, Olivia had tucked her police badge inside her pocket, and they hoped the darkness would conceal them from any blubbering drunks who thought they could score. Last time that happened Casey had nearly given the poor guy a concussion.

"What'll it be?" Casey asked, scooting her chair up "beers, vodka, wine even?"

"What, are you buying?" Olivia asked, intrigued. Casey rarely bought drinks when they went out, she must be having a great day to even consider it.

"Well, maybe the first one." Casey answered sheepishly.

"All right, couple o' beers then. You seem to be in a pretty good mood, anything new, Ms. Novak?"

"No, no, I've just- well, no, it's nothing," Casey trailed off, fiddling with her shirt. "Have you-" she regrouped, trying to change the subject.

"Hey! No you don't Casey Novak," Olivia interrupted, "there must be something on your mind to ask me out here and pay for drinks. Is it a guy," she jested, "do you have a secret boyfriend outside of the office, or, maybe inside the office?" Olivia started to shake her head, smiling derisively, "Mhm, yeah, maybe that's it, maybe you and Cragen hav-"

"Ms. Benson!" Casey interjected. "Although, there may- may be something of a new male interest in my life it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Captain. What a crude idea. Just for that why don't we start by you telling me a little about you and Elliot!"

Their drinks had arrived and they were both gossiping pleasantly when a familiar voice said, "well, hello ladies! Anyone sitting here? Don't mind if I do." Detective John Munch seated himself squarely across from them.

They stared at him blankly. "What?" he questioned, "does a young, hot, single stud not have a right to introduce himself to two good looking ladies in a bar nowadays?"

Casey started, flabbergasted, "first, Detective Munch, young?"

Olivia continued, "and, hot, John?"

"And… Stud!" Casey finished, her eyes gaping, laughing vigorously.

"Well you know, I was just on my way through and recognized two familiar faces, thought I'd say hello." Munch clarified, blushing, although Olivia wondered if it was a trick of the lights, his face was so aged it had probably lost the delicate capacity to alter its coloration in such circumstances.

"Fair enough," Olivia said, "hey! Waiter! One more beer over here!"

"Ah, Casey must be buying," Munch said, amused at Olivia's eagerness, "Make that two, waiter!"

"All right guys, all right," said Casey, feigning worry over her pocketbook, but Olivia noticed that she had perked up slightly after Munch's appearance, speaking of, how exactly had Munch run into them like that?

"So, what really brings you here, John?" Olivia asked, wanting to know.

"Seriously now, can't a guy just go out for a drink without being interrogated? I know Huang's advised us all to restrict our job personalities to the job," he said, smirking.

"Oh I know, I'm just giving you a hard time John!" Olivia replied playfully, brushing his shoulder with her hand.

"Oh come on baby, I was just seeing if you needed a ride home, nothing more, why don't you just-"

"Leave me alone, I told you already I-"

Casey, Olivia and John all turned around to see an obviously drunk fellow rudely pulling at a young lady's arm, cajoling her to go home with him.

"Come on, play nice, you little," the man said.

"Watch it, buddy!" Came Munch's command, inflected with a heroic hint of 'prince in shining armor to the rescue.'

"You watch it, you nobody old man!" The ruffian replied, shoving him off.

Munch whipped out his police badge and thrust it in the man's face, pushing him away from the women with his other arm. "Nobody old man huh? Why don't I just show you what this nobody old man can do? Now get lost, punk." The man scrammed, snarling. Munch straightened his coat with a 'huff' and winked at the young girl he had just rescued, before returning to his table.

SVU-EO-SVU

An hour or two later Munch departed, after mentioning to girl that if she really did need a ride home he would be happy to oblige, and the two girlfriends soon left as well, but by this point Casey was well beyond sobriety so Olivia appointed herself as Casey's escort back to Olivia's apartment for the night.

"So, Liv," Casey said, stumbling along. "What do you think of him?" "Of, Munch?" Olivia exclaimed, stopping right there. "Casey Novak, do you have a thing for John?"

"Well, I wouldn't really call it a thing…" Casey said, "you know, just a… just… Well he did show up at the bar tonight, I barely even mentioned it to him earlier… that's got to, that means he thought about what I said, so…. and the way he stood up for that girl… he's just… so..."

Wow, Casey really has a low tolerance Olivia observed. "Come on girl, let's just get you back to my place so you can get some sleep." Olivia wondered if Casey's impaired statement reflected the truth of her rational mind. Did she have a crush on Munch, did Munch return that affection? This was too much office romance for her, Olivia thought as she hauled the sputtering lawyer up the stairs to her apartment.

"All right, Ms. Novak, you'll be sleeping right here," Olivia said, indicating her couch.

"Great," said Casey, who seemed to prefer the coffee table, upon which she promptly crashed, smashing it to the ground.

"Yeah, great." Olivia murmured, swinging her arms and slapping her hands helplessly at her sides. She heaved the snoring lawyer onto the couch and left the destroyed coffee table for the morning. It was ten thirty but Olivia wasn't that sleepy yet, and alcohol always put her in a pensive mood so she poured herself another glass of wine, she hadn't even had that many beers at the bar being so absorbed by John's performance. The twinkling city lights filled her vision as she sipped, silently, mulling over the day's events in her mind, specifically, the events concerning Elliot.

She had felt herself becoming closer and closer to him as they worked together, although it had taken her a while to realize that this was happening. Of course her pals had teased her that they would get together sooner or later, but that was to be expected. Huang had even tried to draw the truth out of her during one of her psych evals but she had kept quiet, maintaining that they were just partners and friends. She wasn't even sure herself how she felt towards Elliot or what path she wanted their relationship to take. As for El's feelings, not only was he temperamental but he bottled up his real feelings so consistently that there was as much of a chance for him to share her growing affections as there was for him to get a new partner and never think twice about it. She just couldn't be sure.

She was pretty lonely, she had to admit. She had the team, and nights like tonight, she thought, but in terms of, well, real intimate relationships her retinue was looking pretty dreary. She couldn't go on living like this forever. One day she wanted to start a family of her own, and be a mother, but after seeing and dealing with so many sorrowfully dissolved marriages that lead to crimes and abuse she had resolved herself to choose a husband with absolute assurance that they could provide for their future kids. Her childhood had been so difficult, and granted, it wasn't entirely her mother's fault, but if there was one thing she valued it was to give hope and life to those who deserved it, and the first people she considered in this manner were her precious future children.

In a way it was part of her duty as an officer, and in a way her duty as an officer was partly due to this sentiment, and these two things defined her. She wanted to live her life in a way that would decisively put an end to the wrongs she and her mother had suffered, not only by fighting the dirtbags who still committed them but by giving life to those she cared about.

"Ah…." Olivia sighed, resting against the windowsill, the wine glass empty, her mouth forming the shaky, accepting tremor of a smile that hid the lonely pain inside her when suddenly her phone rang, startling her. It was Elliot.

"Elliot, hey, what's up?" Olivia said, bewildered.

"Liv," he said, he seemed short of breath. "This will seem absurd, but I just ran across a rape victim on the street. She had just been attacked."

"Oh my god, El, what happened?" Olivia asked quickly, concerned.

"Everything is all right now, don't stress yourself. I called it in, she's at the hospital, and the crime scene is under control. But there's something about it that I thought you needed to know tonight."

"Um, okay, what is it?" Olivia queried, confused.

"Well," Elliot began, "I saw her before the attack. I've been at the gym, yeah, I know it's late but they're open late and I needed to work some steam off. Anyways, I was there, and so was she. I didn't know her, I just recognized her afterward. She must have left before me, and then next thing I know I find her curled up whimpering in an alley on my walk home at eleven o'clock. Sounds pretty routine so far, but the thing is, she was at the gym, working out, dressed in exposing exercise clothes."

"O..k," Olivia said, not following, "So the perp's turned on by hot athletic girls?"

"Olivia," he said, "Kaitlyn Lamarck, the girl from the other day, had just come from the gym as well. Same MO."

"Oh my god… but- Clooney's been in jail since yesterday morning, oh my god! Elliot we got the wrong guy! The rapist's still out there!"

NEXT: The Lamarck case is reopened and the team struggles to find leads.