Two chapters at once? This is unheard of from me, lol! My muse just wouldn't shut up this fine evening! Anyway, I hope you take some time to review and leave me some love - or hate, or indifference, don't really care as long as its a review! And no, I did not acquire SVU within the last five seconds, so no, this will probably not ever be shown on TV (one can dream, though, right?).
Alex and Casey's first week working together passed without much fanfare, surprisingly. They had separate offices, thankfully, so they only rarely needed to acknowledge each other's existence. What little contact they had was awkward, curt, and unfriendly; but it bordered enough on civility to satisfy their friends at the 1-6 and Liz.
It was Friday night, and by 7:30 pm Alex was more than ready for the week-end. She loved the peace and quiet that came when no one else was in the office, though. After deciding to shut herself off from working for the night, she gathered up some files, put on her coat, and made her way to the front lobby. She didn't have an exorbitant amount of paper-work to do before Monday, but enough that it filled three manila envelopes.
"Alex?" a voice called out from behind her. Though it wasn't loud or terribly out of the blue, it was enough to startle the hell out of Alex. The blonde let out an audible scream and dropped the contents in her hands, spilling loose papers everywhere.
"Shit, Casey, you scared the hell out of me," Alex practically whispered, still trying to catch her breath. The red-head immediately bent down and helped Alex gather and sort the chaotic mess of papers that lay on the cool linoleum floor.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you" Casey tried desperately to hide her laughter. She found it absolutely hilarious to see the usually calm, composed attorney in such a state of disarray.
"It's ok, you can laugh," Alex gave a self-deprecating smile; "I didn't think anyone else was still here."
Casey used the free pass to let a few chuckles slip, causing Alex to do the same. Once all the papers were off the floor and properly organized, both stood up, readjusted their outfits and went back to all-business as they left the office.
"So, any fun plans for the weekend," Casey tried to break the awkward silence now emerging.
"Nothing too exciting;" Alex replied, "I'm just catching up on paperwork; you?"
"About the same," Casey added, "God, that paperwork from the Dalton case is ridiculous, huh?"
"Oh my God, you're telling me!" Alex rolled her eyes in sympathy, then gave a small smile, "I love him to death, but Elliot really needs to stop roughing up perps. It ruins my week-ends!"
"So true!" Casey laughed, "And Liv really needs to stop covering his ass! It just doubles the paperwork we need to file!"
"Oh well," Alex laughed, "Maybe once they consummate the damn thing, they'll be able to work together without burying us in paper!" Alex meant to keep that last comment silent, but somehow it escaped from Alex's usually guarded mouth.
"Finally," Casey exclaimed, "Someone who agrees with me! I brought it up with Munch once and he just laughed at me; said it was some 'partner thing' I'd never understand!"
"'Partner thing' my ass!" Alex scoffed, "If Fin and Munch looked at each other the way Liv and Elliot do, I'd start to wonder if maybe there were other reasons Munch's marriages failed…"
That got a laugh out of both women as they made their way to the front lobby.
"Well, have a good weekend!" Alex excused herself as she got close to her car.
"You, too."
'Holy SHIT!' they both thought, 'We actually had a polite conversation without murdering each other…that was weird. Though it wasn't incredibly comfortable or friendly, their civility wasn't as curt or forced as usual. It was improvement, maybe…
'Improvement' lasted until Monday afternoon. Olivia and Elliot caught a case; like most cases they caught, it was particularly gruesome. A fourteen-year old, Melissa Ethers, was assaulted, murdered, and dumped into the Hudson, effectively eradicating all physical evidence. However, her seventeen-year old boyfriend, John Malcolm, had anger issues, an alibi that one could drive an SUV through, and the couple had been seen fighting two hours before the murder. According to her friend who had witnessed the altercation, he had threatened to kill her several times.
"Well, I don't need any more convincing," Cragen assured them, looking over the files, "But without physical evidence, you're gonna have a hard time getting our ADA's to indict."
"It'll be a hard sell," Elliot agreed, "But we've gotten convictions with less."
"Look, Elliot, I'm sorry, but there's not enough here," Alex was forced to disappoint Olivia and Elliot.
"Come on, Alex," Olivia pled her heart out, "If we don't arrest him now, daddy dearest will just fly him to God knows where on his private jet."
"And if we do arrest him now, the legal dream-team his parents can afford will chew me up and spit me out," Alex countered.
"There's got to be something you can do," Elliot gave her his famous blue-eyed, begging look.
"There's enough for a search warrant if I call in a big favor," Alex finally conceded, "Find me something I can use in his home, and I'll see what I can do."
Accepting that was the ADA's best offer, they said their goodbyes and were prepared to wait for the search warrant. However, Elliot suddenly had a brilliant idea once he was out of Alex's earshot.
"Look, maybe Casey will see things differently," Elliot suggested, "She takes a few more risks than Alex."
"Yeah, I'm sure Alex will love it if we go behind her back," Olivia countered.
"We wouldn't be going behind her back," Elliot continued, "If we can get Casey to agree, maybe she can change Alex's mind…"
"Alright, I guess it's worth a shot," Olivia agreed, "But we're not arresting Malcolm unless they're both on board."
"Sorry, guys, I agree with Alex," Casey regrettably informed them, "If we arrest him now, we're screwed."
"If we don't arrest him now, there won't be a later," Elliot argued.
"It's a 'Hail Mary' pass," Casey argued more forcefully, "If nothing turns up in the search, we will lose this case."
"Casey, a fourteen year old girl is dead, and the snotty rich bastard who killed her is going to soak up the sun on some non-extraditable island if we don't arrest him now," Olivia argued back just as forcefully.
"Alright," Casey took a deep breath after thinking for a moment, "I say we arrest him….I sincerely doubt Alex will agree, but I'll try."
"Thanks, Case!" Elliot and Olivia both sincerely smiled.
"Yeah, yeah," Casey mock-sarcastically shot back, "You sure as hell better find me something with that search warrant!"
Casey waited outside Alex's office door nervously as the blonde finished her telephone conversation. She couldn't help but overhear it– well, she could help it, but Casey was always a naturally curious person.
"Look, I know it's weak evidence, but – No, of course I'm not suggesting that you jeopardize your judicial record – This is our last chance, and I know it's a big favor, but I wouldn't be asking if it weren't of the utmost importance – I knew you'd come through for me! Thank you so much! – Of course I'm coming for Thanksgiving! Can I bring anything? – Well, let me know if Aunt Sue changes her mind! Give her and the kids my love! – Love you, too, Uncle Bill!"
Once she hung up the phone, she noted the red-head outside and cordially – well, as cordially as Alex could be with Casey and vice-versa – invited her in.
"So, Liv and Elliot came by my office just now about the Malcolm case," Casey began.
"Yeah, they discussed that with me, too," Alex continued, assuming she would just discuss how little evidence there was, "I just got off the phone with my Uncle. He got us a search warrant, so we have at least something to work with."
"Look, I know the evidence is shaky, but if we let him go we will never get him back," Casey began.
"Lord, not you, too," Alex cradled her head in her right hand, "Look, there's nothing we can do, and you know it."
"We have the warrant," Casey began, "We can arrest him just to keep him in custody, and that'll buy the detectives some time to gather evidence."
"And what if the search turns up nothing," Alex countered, "Then, we either drop the charges, and he's had more time to plan his escape route, or we lose the case and ruin our chances of conviction entirely."
"I know it's risky, but I have faith that the detectives –"
"We can't put faith on the stand or enter it into evidence," Alex countered, now getting aggravated, "I want to help as much as you, but we are not magicians; we can only work with what the detectives give us. Until they give us more, I will not stand behind arresting him. Any lawyer who would is completely inept."
Though Alex didn't intend any disrespect or insult towards Casey with her last comment (she knew Casey found the evidence just as lacking as she), Casey took the blunt, perhaps insensitive comment personally.
"Well, I see your mind is made up," Casey finally retorted as she left the office. Still reeling, she made what may not have been the best decision…
Arrest him, she sent to both Elliot and Olivia's cell. She knew Alex would be furious and, honestly, that was part of the reason she sent it. Perhaps she was a little oversensitive right now; perhaps Alex was overly insensitive when she argued with Casey. But, either way, Alex's comment was the last straw. Casey was sick and tired of how everyone worshipped Alexandra Cabot. She was sick of being compared to her by the gossips in her office, and tired of how Alex looked at her like she thought Casey was ten inches tall whenever they disagreed this past week. She didn't know or care whether her thoughts were rational – she was done.
Well, I hope that whet your appetite for more! I assure you, MASSIVE FIREWORKS are coming up, so review review review and kick my muse into high gear!