Reviewers! Yay!
Note: This chapter and onwards has spoilers for Blinded/Influence
Bucken-Berry: Well, I put a little George/OMC in this chapter, but I've never written male slash at all before, so… yeah. One of my friends said she'd write a scene for me though
7Seven7: Sorry… I don't actually know the end of Mia's story. I fell asleep before she finished telling it.
VampirePrincess86: Yeah, I'll have to find some way to shorten Alexis's name so he stops being confused with Alex Cabot.
Anywho…
Chapter 2
Casey had just about fallen asleep on the couch when there was another knock on her door. "Damn it, who the hell could that be?" she muttered, glancing at the clock and shaking her head unhappily- one in the morning. "Coming!" she called, trudging off the couch and answering the door.
Her smile froze in place when she saw who it was. She tried to say something, but the words stuck in her throat. He just smiled and showed her a gun. "You recognize me, don't you? Smart girl. People change alot in ten years. Like you, Casey. That's right, I know about your bastard husband and what should have been my son." Casey still couldn't form words, but when he mentioned Alex, that jolted her into action.
"Don't you dare hurt him," she whispered, baring her teeth and clenching her hands into fists.
"Oh, Alexis? Don't worry, I won't hurt him. But your husband... well, I'll tell you more inside. Aren't you going to invite me in, Casey?"
She glared at him, then snapped coldly, "Get the hell away from me. Now."
"Oh, Casey, you clearly don't know what a gun is. I'll make it simpler for you. Let me in, or I'll shoot you. I won't kill you, but that doesn't mean you won't bleed to death. Now, which is it, Casey?"
She froze, thinking only of Alex. After a moment, she said, "You'll only coming inside if you let my son leave."
"No, honey, he's staying here."
There was a window in her and Elliot's bedroom. Three stories up, yes, but the rich people who lived behind her apartment building had a private swimming pool there. If Alex landed in the water...
Casey pretended to think about it a moment longer, then turned and ran to Alex's room, screaming, "Alex!" The bastard ran after her, but she managed to rouse her son and he was already on his way to the door. She just grabbed his wrist and whisked him up into her arms as she ran to their bedroom, slamming the door and locking it a second before he slammed into it.
"No!" he shouted from the other side and Casey grabbed the phone and dialed Elliot's cell number, then stuck it in her pocket. "Alex, come on!" she gasped when there was a loud smash and the door actually flew off the hinges. He ran inside as she pulled Alex close to her chest and took a deep breath, then ran forward the window and jumped out into the night.
She hugged Alexis close, refusing to let go, but then they were falling too fast. They then crashed into the pool, the water barely slowing her down enough so her skull didn't spilt open when she hit the bottom. Didn't mean she was able to stay conscious, though.
Casey's body took most of the shock of the fall so Alexis remained unscathed, but when Casey floated to the top of the pool Alexis, who hadn't yet learned how to swim, started struggling to stay afloat.
The lights had automatically turned on when Casey had crashed into the pool, which brought the rich husband out to investigate. He saw an unconscious redhead floating in the pool, the water turning red from her blood, and a little boy floundering and screaming beside her. He gasped, then called for his wife and ran to help them.
SVUSVUSVU
Elliot clutched the phone tighter to his ear, practically shouting, "Alexis! Alexis!" All he had heard was a loud scream, followed by a series of smashes until he heard nothing but static. The caller ID said Casey, but...
He had put the call on speaker, everyone had heard what had happened. They all stared at each other in shock, then bolted out of the squad room for Elliot and Casey's apartment.
SVUSVUSVU
By the time they got there, it was over. The ambulance was already outside and the EMTs were carrying Casey towards it, one of them trying to check out Alexis, but the child was screaming and fighting an attempt to get to Casey. "El, go with her, I got Alex," Olivia told him as she rushed over to Alexis and got down in front of him, trying to calm him down. Elliot hesitated, then climbed into the ambulance after Casey.
"Alex, shh, it's okay," she said quickly, hugging him gently before looking him over, searching for any sign of injury. There was none, but that didn't mean he wasn't hurt. The EMT started looking Alex over as she Olivia soothed, "It's okay, honey, it's Aunt Liv, it's all over now."
Still panting for breath, he managed to gasp, "Mommy?"
Knowing what he meant, Olivia rubbed his small shoulder comfortingly and told him, "She's gonna be fine, Alex. Your daddy's going with her to the hospital and the doctor's gonna take real good care of her."
"I wanna see her!"
Olivia bit her lip uncertainly and looked away. She really had no idea whether Casey would be okay or not- and while she hoped fiercely she would be- she knew nothing about her condition. "Alex, you... you can see her in a bit, but first you have to tell me what happened- can you do that for me, Alex?"
"I don't know!" he shouted. "Mommy was yelling and then she grabbed me and ran to her and daddy's room, and then someone else was shouting and she jumped through the window! We fell in the pool but she wouldn't wake up! Where is she? I wanna see her!"
She hesitated, trying to process what he had just said. Why the hell would Casey jump out of a three-story window while holding her son? Why would she even jump out of one at all? The only plausible explanation was that facing whoever Alex had heard was worse then risking her life- and her son's.
But who was she that scared of? The only person who made any sense at all was Danny Garcia, but he had been dead six years. There was no way it could be him. But who else was there? None of her convictions would have gotten out of prison yet. And exactly how many pyschotic ex-boyfriends could a person have?
With a sigh, Olivia glanced up at the EMT, and he told her, "I'd like to get him a full physical, but he seems fine. If he complains about any pain the next few days, bring him back to the hospital right away, all right?"
She nodded her thanks, then took Alex's hand and led him away to the squad car. "Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital."
SVUSVUSVU
Huang broke off his kiss with Goren when his phone rang. "Sorry, Bobby," he said as he reached over to grab the phone. "I've gotta get this." He snapped furiously into the receiver, "What?"
"Hey," Munch's voice teased from over the phone. "It's not that late, Huang. Was somebody getting laid?"
"Yes, actually, I was," he said crossly, tapping his finger on his leg unhappily before Bobby started kissing his shoulder again. He smiled in spite of himself, then said, "Look, did you just to call to harass me, or did you actually need me for something?"
Munch chuckled before turning serious again. "Yeah- Casey was attacked a few hours ago. Cragen wants you down at the crime scene- her apartment building- to see if you can get any sort of profile of our guy for us."
George sobered immediately. "Of course; I'm on my way." He hung up the phone before turning to Bobby again. "I've got to go, SVU's ADA was attacked, and they need me for a profile..."
Bobby kissed him on the lips before waving him off. "I'll be waiting."
SVUSVUSVU
By the time she forced her way through the late-night traffic, the doctor had already told Elliot about Casey's condition and let him go see her. Olivia had to spend twenty minutes tracking him down, since his cell was off. She finally cornered him up on the 5th floor, where we was currently sitting in Casey's room and waiting for her to awaken. Olivia stepped inside slowly, trying to be quiet. "Hey," she said softly, offering a small smile when he turned around and squeezing Alexis's hand comfortingly.
Elliot went immediately to Alex and looked him up and down, making sure he was okay. Olivia let Elliot hug his son as she drifted over to Casey, examining her intently. Her left arm was in one of those removable Velcro casts, and she at least four stitches that Olivia could see alone. Her face and arms were all covered with small cuts, most of which didn't look too serious, although a few had actually been bandaged and seemed pretty bad.
When Elliot walked back over to her, Alex gasped, staring at his mother in shock. "Mom... Mommy..." he whispered, then said louder, "Mom, wake up! Mom!"
"I got him," Olivia said quickly as she pulled the now screaming child away and hurried away from Casey's room. "It's okay, Alex," she said as she sat down and pulled him up into her lap. "It's okay. Mommy's okay. She just hurt her arm and got a few little cuts, that's all."
"But why wouldn't she wake up? She wouldn't wake up!"
"She was just asleep, that's all. I promise, your mommy's going to be just fine." She rubbed his back comfortingly, but, in truth, was itching to find out what was really wrong with Casey. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "I need to talk to your father alone for a minute. I'm going to ask the nurse to ask watch you, all right?"
He frowned unhappily. "I can take care of myself!"
"I know you can, honey, this is just a precaution."
Alex frowned again, staring at the ground, confused. "What does precaution mean?" he finally asked, and Olivia just sighed as she led him over to the nurse's station.
"Hey, I need to talk to this little guy's father for a second and it's kind of an adult conversation, is it at all possible for you to watch him for me until I get back? I promise, I'll only take a minute..."
The nurse sighed but nodded. "Sure, dear." She took Alex's hand from her and returned to her activity of flipping through a magazine without actually reading it. With a shake of her head and another eye roll, Olivia was off in search of Elliot and Casey again.
"So... how is she?" Olivia asked quietly when she reentered the ADA's room again.
Elliot shrugged without ever taking his eyes off Casey. "Her left arm's broken in two places. Couple of broken ribs, concussion. 26 stitches. Doctor says she'll wake up in a few hours, that she'll make a full recovery. Course, that doesn't tell me what the hell happened in the first place."
Olivia sighed and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "No one knows for sure. Alexis said that someone broke in, and Casey locked herself in your room with him. When whoever this was broke inside, she jumped out the window with him."
Elliot closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Yeah. Like some random break-in would scare Casey..." Another moment passed before he came to the same conclusion as Olivia. "She had to know him. But... who...?"
"We don't know, El. But we're not going to stop looking until we find out."
SVUSVUSVU
During this conversation between her husband and best friend, Casey slept and dreamed. She heard nothing of what either Elliot or Olivia said, trapped in her own nightmarish prison...
"Oh, look at him, he's a doll!" Sara squealed as the new kid walked into homeroom.
Casey's eyes raked up and down his tan, muscular body, and she started unbuttoning her private school uniform, suddenly hot. "Mmm... EYE CANDY!" Kristen squealed, and they all broke into giggles.
When he walked over to them and introduced himself as Charles Hamilton, they all blushed and tried to maintain the little dignity they had left. The moment the bell rang, though, they all descended into fits of hysterical giggles once more...
"Oh, Charles!" Casey said, smiling brightly at the 26 year old. "This is the most romantic first date I've ever been on!"
He grinned, flashing perfectly white teeth. "Well thank you, Casey. I do my best for special ladies like you."
She blushed again, looking down in her lap before she said, "You know what they say about how all the good guys are either taken or gay? Well, they were wrong. And I can see one exception right here." He tentatively took her hand in his, and Casey smiled again before kissing him on the cheek...
"Will you marry me?"
Casey stared at him, completely shocked. She and Charlie had been dating for two years; she had had no idea he was thinking about changing their status from 'boyfriend and girlfriend' to 'man and wife'. After his diagnosis of schizophrenia, things had been so hard.
But they were getting better. And Lord knows she loved him even more now. What choice did she have? She was whipped. ..
"Charlie!" Casey screamed, locking herself in the bedroom in a panic. He rammed into the door, so hard it nearly flew off the hinges.
"I know you're cheating on me! I KNOW you are!"
"Charlie, no, stop!" She pressed herself up against the door, trying to keep him out, but he was just too damn strong. Casey knew she only had a minute, if that, before he broke through.
Her minute dissolved into one second when he kicked the door in, throwing her back into the wall. With a shocked groan, Casey just barely got her hands up in time to protect herself from a blow to the face, He grabbed her and forced her to her knees, punching her so hard she nearly passed out. "TELL ME THE TRUTH, CASEY!"
Then the old memories mixed with the new ones, and Charlie was standing her at the door, telling her to let him in because Alexis was his son. Then she ran for her life, and the moment he burst into the bedroom she jumped through the window, glass shards digging into her body as she fell through the freezing air, her screaming son clinging to her until she crashed into the pool and lost consciousness altogether.
