AN: No C/O or C/Chester or C/anyone; romance does not play a role in this story; Disclaimer: I own nada, zilch, nothing; Thanks: to my reviewers, little shit sarah, missa and TVCrazed!! You guys are great!

Heartbeat

2

Family

Casey sat on the sofa, staring at her computer screen, absently. She jumped slightly as she heard a buzzing sound. She sighed, placed her laptop on the coffee table and walked over to the speaker.

"Case, it's me, buzz me in," came Olivia's voice.

Without saying anything, Casey pressed the button. She leaned against the wall, trying to collect herself before the detective reached her apartment.

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up," said Olivia as she removed her shoes and entered the living room.

Casey shrugged her shoulders. "I'm still processing," she muttered.

"Did you take him to the doctor's?"

"After much arguing. The doctor had Aidan do a blood and urine test too. Just precautionary, he said. And he gave him some cream for the…the bruises.

Olivia nodded. "Tracey Kibre has the case," the older woman offered.

"I figured as much," she said bitterly. It wasn't that she thought Tracey was a bad prosecutor—on the contrary, she handled the Duvall case perfectly—she just hated the 'too emotionally involved' policy slapped onto detectives or prosecutors the minute things got too personal. She wanted to put that bastard behind bars herself.

Olivia sat down on the couch as Casey moved towards the kitchen. "Want anything to drink?"

"Water's good."

Olivia sipped her drink slowly, staring off into space. Casey sat on the other side of the couch, silently.

"You never told me about your sister," Olivia said, breaking the silence

Casey sighed.

"We all noticed your…distance."

"I just didn't feel like sharing. Work was my escape, I guess. I didn't want to mix the two."

"I'm sorry, Case."

Casey turned her head, fearing that her eyes would water up at the thought of her sister.

"What happened?"

Casey looked back at the detective. "A heart attack."

Olivia looked at her in disbelief. "Was she much older than you?"

Casey shook her head. "She's three years older."

"Then…"

"She had HCM…hypertrophic cardiomyopathy…it's genetic. My dad has it. It can sometimes cause sudden death in otherwise healthy people. My dad has never had complications but my sister, well, she was taking pills to regulate her heartbeat."

Olivia reached over and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Jenny forgot to take her pill the day she…the day she… And now Aidan…" Her voice was too choked to continue. Her shoulder shook slightly with her soft sobs.

"You should probably go," Casey managed to say.

Olivia gathered the young colleague into her arms and rubbed her back. "Shh, hon, I'm not leaving you like this."

Casey pulled away and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "'m Sorry."

"Don't be."

"I should take some time off to get Aidan settled."

"You should," agreed Olivia while she looked pointedly at Casey's laptop.

"I promised Sarah Jenson that I'd convict Walker. I know it's a cut and dry case but I don't want to go back on my word."

"She'll understand. Like you said, it's cut and dry…Kibre will have no problems."

Casey nodded. "If I had taken more time off when Jenny…died…I would have spent more time with Aidan…I should have know, Olivia." She sounded desperate as she buried her hands in her hair.

"Don't do this Casey. You know how hard it is to spot these things."

"But we know better…if I had spent time with him, I might have picked up on something. I could have got him out of there sooner. I've failed him. I failed Charlie. I failed Jenny. How many victims have I failed, Liv? I might as well fail Sarah Jenson too," Casey said, sounding slightly hysterical.

"Stop, Case. Just stop. Take a breath."

Unwanted tears finally escaped from the corner of her eyes. "What do I do?"

"You take time off, Casey. You spend time with your nephew. You help him through this. You haven't failed him, Case. His father failed him. You love him and that's what counts."

xoxoxox

"I find child abuse one of the most appalling crimes that come through this court and it saddens me that greater penalties are not available."

Casey squeezed her nephew's hand reassuringly, trying to calm his tremors. They sat two rows behind ADA Tracy Kibre in the courtroom during the sentencing hearing of Aidan's father, Timothy Jacobson.

"However, I can see that you are a man who has suffered greatly with the loss of your wife, and while I do not condone your actions, I want to give you the chance to rectify them," continued the judge. "Up until the death of your wife, you have proven yourself a good father."

Casey instantly felt Aidan tense at these words.

"Thus, I am sentencing you to one year in prison, with a possibility of parole after four months. During this time, you will attend counseling. You will not have contact with the victim during the duration of your sentence and any subsequent parole. I leave it to Family Court to decide any visitation and custody rights that you can have after the one-year period."

Aidan hung his head. "Four months," he muttered with resignation. Then he lifted his head and looked at his aunt. Casey quickly covered up the anger that seemed to stew within her. Four months? She could see Tracy turning around and giving her an apologetic look.

"I don't want to see him, Aunt Casey. I don't want visitation," the child whispered.

Casey nodded. "Don't worry, you're staying with me, honey."

xoxoxox

"So, things went well in Family Court, I take it?" asked Chester Lake as he carried a large box down the hallway. Casey followed behind him, carrying an equally large box.

"As expected, really," she replied. "I have full custody for one year, at which point the case will be re-evaluated. But I doubt I'll lose custody. I don't know a great deal about the Family Court judges, but I've heard that Judge Manson seems to subscribe to a 'once an abuser, always an abuser' policy."

"Seems a bit biased," commented Chester.

Casey pushed her back against the door of apartment 1204. "If there wasn't any subjectivity in sentencing, we wouldn't need judges to make the sentences, would we?"

"You've got a point."

"But I see what you mean. Usually, I would be outraged over a bias but I'm not a lawyer in this case. I'm more than happy that the judge is biased against him. I know it sounds hypocritical but this is my family, so I don't give a damn."

"I understand," said Chester as he walked passed Casey and put the box down in the foyer.

"Well, that's the last one," announced Chester.

Aidan came out from the kitchen. Casey put down her box and smiled. "Thank you, Chester. You really didn't have too."

"Nah, my pleasure, Casey. Put me in your good books, will you? May come in handy when I ask for a warrant."

She smirked. "I'll start playing nice with all the judges, then."

Chester laughed. "I'll see you at work."

"Not for another week."

"Good," said Chester. "Bye Aidan."

xoxoxox

Casey curled her feet deep into the couch as she spooned out some mint chocolate chip ice cream.

"Give it a few more days and we'll have this place looking like we moved in months ago," she assured her nephew, who was crouched down in front of the DVD player, sliding in a Star Wars movie.

He joined her on the sofa and smiled timidly at her. "I feel really bad, Aunt Casey, making you pick up and move. The money…the time it's taking away from work…I know how much your job means to you"

Casey sighed, holding back her frustration as the boy reached forward to pick up his bowl of ice cream. "Aidan, we've talked about this. You are more important than money or time and even my job. You have to understand that. Money isn't supposed to just sit in bank accounts, bud. You make it to use it. And while sometimes it doesn't seem like it, even to me, my job doesn't have total control over my life."

He shook his head, still not seeming to understand why his aunt had taken time off work, fought for full custody and moved into a two-bedroom apartment (a vacant one in her building).

"Aidan, you're the one who has had to make sacrifices. Leaving your old school and friends, I know it can't be easy…on top of everything else."

Aidan shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't have any friends at my old school."

"What about that boy, Johnny?"

"That was two years ago."

"And you're not friends anymore?"

"After I left baseball, we sort of didn't hang out anymore, I guess," he said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Left baseball? You don't like baseball anymore?" Casey felt her guilt rising to the forefront again. She knew very little about her sister and nephew's lives. If she had been more involved, she might have seen that something was horribly wrong.

"I don't really know how it happened," he said, trying his best to sound vague.

Casey was determined to find out what was going on in her nephew's life. Why didn't he have any friends? From what she recalled, Johnny was his best friend. And baseball? He loved baseball as much as she did. And if this was all before her sister had died…

She started to wonder if his father's abuse started before her sister's death. Had he started to withdraw and isolate himself from his friends and hobbies because his father was beating him? She'd already suggested therapy, which hadn't gone over well with Aidan but she wasn't going to give up. She wasn't going to let her nephew's life spiral out of control because of that bastard.

"Why don't we go down to the batting cages tomorrow?"

"That'll be nice," he said, his attempt at enthusiasm failing miserably.

Casey ignored it. She didn't know how to be a parent but she was a quick learner and she was going to figure out how to make him open up to her.

xoxoxox

Luke Skywalker smiled at the ghostly images of his father and mentors as the movie ended.

Aidan had fallen asleep somewhere within the final action sequences, his head resting on Casey's lap. She had been unconsciously stroking his hair softly as she thought about her vulnerable nephew, the movie running softly in the background.

She snapped out of her thoughts with the piercing sound of the telephone. Quickly, she reached over and grabbed the phone, not wanting to wake up Aidan.

"Hello."

"Good afternoon. This is Dr. Beckenson's office calling for Aidan Jacobson."

"This is his aunt speaking. Is something wrong?"

"The test results for the blood and urine tests are back and Dr. Beckenson needs to discuss them with you and your nephew. When would be the best time for an appointment?"

Casey gripped the receiver tightly. "Is…is something wrong?"

"I cannot discuss the contents of the results over the phone. You will have to make an appointment to see the doctor. The sooner the better."

"Yes," she muttered. "When is the next available appointment?"

Casey jotted down the time and thanked the receptionist. What could be wrong? Did he have HCM, like his mother? Could you even determine that from a blood or urine test? She looked down at her nephew, wondering what more the boy would have to face.

Only then did she realize that he had become restless while she was on the phone. He was muttering something incoherent and pushing his body deep into the sofa.

"Shh," Casey murmured, soothingly as she ran her hand through his hair. He suddenly gasped and sat up in the couch. He turned his head to Casey, his eyes unfocused.

"Mom?"

The prosecutor sucked in some air before opening her mouth to say something. "Aidan…"

He scrambled out of the sofa, shaking his head. "Sorry…I…you…you looked like…like her…with your hair up like that…I thought…" He kept shaking his head, as if trying to prevent breaking down completely. "Sorry…I…"

"No Aidan, don't be—"

He spun around on his heels and fled to his semi-unpacked room. She tried to run after him but he'd already closed the door and she could hear his body sliding down against the other side of the door.

Casey sighed and wandered back to the living room, knowing better than to invade his privacy.

She sunk back into the couch, praying that the doctor's news wasn't that terrible.


Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I really want to know what people think...the good, the bad, the awful.

I am going to play this story out like an SVU episode, in the sense that the initial crime (in this case, child abuse) isn't as straightforward as it first appears to be. On the other hand, there is a greater personal aspect to this story, as the case revolves around a main character's family. This story has sensitive topics and I hope I deal with them sensitively. Child abuse, in all its forms, is a horrible, horrible thing. I do not agree with the sentence Aidan's father got but unfortunetely, it's not uncommon. I personally believe that people who commit such crimes should be put away for a very, very long time.

And on a lighter note, if I don't update within the next two weeks...Merry Christmas...Happy Holidays!