Casey walked into her office and found Josh just sitting there twirling a pen in between his fingers and staring at the ground "You ok?"
"Huh?" He quickly looked up "Yea, just this case is annoying me"
Casey sat down across him "Rape?" She asked knowing that he was extremely gentle even if he did seem like a tough guy.
"Yea" He answered with a nod "I want to rip the perp's head off. That's normal right?"
"Sure" Casey answered with a small smile "Just don't do it."
"I'll try" He nodded as he opened a file "I can't even look at this" He threw the file back on the table "How about you look at the pictures and I will do the grilling in the court?"
"I can't let you have all the fun smart guy," Casey teased with a smile as she took the file and looked through it. "You prepped Olivia for court today?"
"Yea she's ready" Josh answered with a nod "Fin?"
"Finished"
"Who's the defense attorney?"
"Langan"
"Oh his sister is good in bed, I'll use that to spook him"
Casey looked up at him "Have you slept with every woman in New York city?"
"Don't be ridiculous" Josh smirked and shook his head "I did all the female lawyers of New York but not all the women"
"What's your next goal? Female cops?"
"No. I don't have goals who I have intercourse with. You think I'm like some man slut don't you?"
Casey chuckled a little "Man slut?"
"It's the right definition don't worry"
"No I don't think you are a man slut, I know you better then that. I think you are my friend who gets laid a lot and now is very conceded but not a man slut."
Josh nodded "Good to know. For a second there I thought I should give up my whole 'having orgy's and getting laid' type of lifestyle"
"You wouldn't be Joshua Noel Bridges if you did"
He quickly looked up at her "Where did you find out my middle name?"
"Public record" Casey answered and burst out laughing, "You have a dorky middle name you big Christmas deer"
"That's mean" Josh shook his head "Casey Patricia Novak"
"Hey!" Casey yelled at him. "You had no right to know my middle name"
"Life's a bitch isn't it?"
Casey rolled her eyes and got up "I'm getting coffee"
"Bring me some please?"
"Fine. Don't eat my cookie in the drawer cause I know you found it already" Casey warned giving him a look.
"The chocolate chip one that's half eaten?"
"Yes"
"Fine" Josh rolled his eyes and crossed his arms on his chest. Casey shook her head and left the office.
Josh played with the pens on the desk "Patricia" He mumbled to himself and burst out laughing. "Silly girl"
Olivia came in the office "What's so funny?"
"Nothing" Josh quickly fixed his tie and made a serious face "Nothing's funny"
"Then why were you laughing?" Olivia questioned as she sat across him.
"A dream I had last night. I dreamed that you kissed me…oh wait that really happened, oh its not so funny anymore" He shook his head with a small smile.
Olivia rolled her eyes "Let's not talk about that at work ok?" She said in a low voice.
"Fine. Dinner tonight?"
"I'm busy"
"Doing what?"
"None of your business" Olivia answered just to tease him even if she didn't have anything to do but she was trying not to fall for his charm right away even if it was hard as hell.
"Well that's mean"
"Maybe drinks after work, and that's a maybe"
"Deal" He nodded with a smile "How's the vic?"
"She's scared but I think she can handle it"
"Want us to give her a run through court cause she is five after all?"
Olivia nodded "Yea, I think that would help her"
"Ok, when she gets here bring her to my office and Casey and I will show her the courtroom" Josh opened the file and took a deep breath "How do hell can you work at SVU voluntarily?"
"I like catching the bastards"
"I want to rip their heads off when I see bruises on kids or a woman"
"Rip their heads off in court. Why didn't you become a cop if you want to hurt them?"
"Yea, my dad is a judge, my mom is a retired lawyer, my sisters and their husbands our lawyers, and my younger brother is going to be a lawyer and me be a cop? I don't think so" He shook his head and flipped the pictures and read the report since he couldn't stand looking at the beaten up five year old in the police report.
"Why not? Did they make you be a lawyer or something?"
"I have been around courts my whole life and I got used to it. For gods sake the Supreme Court was almost like a second home to me, I spent more time in court then at home or school"
Olivia smiled and nodded "Must be hell of a lawyer then"
"Let's hope so" Josh gave her a big thumbs up and threw the file back on the desk as he put his feet on the desk "I'm done studying" They heard a knock on the door. "Come in"
An intern came in the room "Mr. Bridges, a Lilly Fletcher is here with her mother"
Josh nodded "Let them in" He put his feet down and buttoned his top button of his shirt and fixed his tie.
A young girl came in the office followed by an older woman.
"Hi Olivia" Lilly said with a small smile.
"Hi Lilly" Olivia returned the small smile and waved a little as she got up from her chair.
"Lilly you want us to take you to court so you can see where you will be?" Josh asked with a small comforting smile.
Lilly just shrugged "I don't know"
"Want a juice or a cookie?" Josh asked smiling.
She smiled a little and nodded. Josh smirked and got off his chair "We'll be right back" He told Olivia and Mrs. Fletcher. He put his hand on Lilly's back and led her out of the office and closed the door behind him.
"Will the man be in there?" Mrs. Fletcher asked looking over at Olivia right away.
"He will be in the courtroom but he cant say anything" Olivia informed her "I think that it would be better for Lilly if she saw the courtroom before the trial"
Mrs. Fletcher just nodded "Sure. Do you think we will win?"
"We got one of our best lawyers on the case"
Josh got a cookie and a small juice carton and led Lilly through the halls of the DA's office.
"Mr. Bridges" Lilly said looking up at him as she took a sip of her apple juice.
"Yea?" Josh asked looking down at her.
"Will the man be there looking at me?" She asked as her small eyes filled with tears.
Josh kneeled down by her so he was her eye level "Yes but he cant say anything to you or touch you sweetie"
"But he will be looking at me"
"How about when I ask you questions I will stand right there in front of you so he cant see you?"
Lilly nodded a little "Promise?"
"I got you a cookie didn't I?" Josh asked grinning at her.
She smiled and nodded "Can I go see my mommy now?"
"Of course, c'mon" Josh led her into his office "Detective can you escort Mrs. Fletcher and Lilly to the courtroom?"
Olivia just nodded "Meet us there"
Josh nodded and went to find Casey. He went to where the coffee pot was and found Casey pouring coffee and was half way threw a cupcake.
"Stop eating" Josh grabbed the cupcake as she was about to bite it again.
"What? What was that for?" Casey looked over at him and grabbed her cupcake back from him.
"We need to go, Lilly is on her way to the courtroom." Josh took the cupcake and put it behind his back. "No more eating, you ate my ice cream that was in the freezer, this cupcake is mine"
"I'll go to the courtroom if you let me finish my cupcake" Casey smiled innocently at him with a small wink.
Josh smiled "Really? Now which courtroom are we talking about? Orgasm one or actually courtroom"
Casey rolled her eyes and tried to reach for the cupcake "Just give it to me"
"Ok" Josh teased and pressed his body against hers "How do you want it counselor?"
Casey smirked and started to blush extremely. She pushed him away from her and took a sip of coffee "Let's go, I'll get another cupcake"
"I'm serious" He pressed his body against hers again "How do you want it?"
Casey just looked at him and could feel her face blushing "We need to go"
"Yea" He nodded a little and took a bite of the cupcake "Mmmm"
"Shut up" Casey mumbled and walked past him.
Josh chuckled and followed her eating the cupcake.
Around three in the afternoon Casey and Josh were sitting in their seats in front of the courtroom and watching Langan question the perp.
"Hand me the file" Josh whispered to Casey. Casey handed him the file that was on her side of the desk.
Olivia was sitting behind them and watching the trial.
Langan finished his questioning and sat down back down.
Josh took the file and got up and buttoned his blazer "Mr. Sinclair where were you on the night of July 12th?"
"Home"
"Alone?"
"Yes" Mr. Sinclair answered.
"Well of course" Josh mumbled. "Do you know Lilly Fletcher?"
"No, I never met her and I-"
"Yes or no sir" Josh cut in "Didn't you on the night of July 12th rape a 5 year old girl?" Josh questioned in a louder voice.
"Objection!" Langan yelled out.
"How does it feel to hold down a five year old girl you sick son of-" Josh yelled at Mr. Sinclair.
"Sustained!" The judge yelled at Josh "Try that one more time Mr. Bridges and you will find yourself held in contempt"
Olivia and Casey exchanged looks and then looked back at Josh.
Josh fixed his tie and made himself calm down "Mr. Sinclair where do you work?"
"In retail"
"What do you sell?"
"Toys"
Josh smiled a little and looked at the jury and then back at the perp "So you are around children all day?"
"And their parents"
"Right. Are you ever alone with the children?"
"No"
"What if you need to show them a toy and the parents are looking at something else?" Josh asked as he sat down on his desk by Casey. Mr. Sinclair didn't answer "Mr. Sinclair?" He said nothing "Your honor"
"Mr. Sinclair please answer the question," The judge ordered.
"It hardly happens, most parents, most good parents, stay with their children" Mr. Sinclair answered.
"So now you're a expert on parents?" Josh asked as he jumped off the table and walked over to the stand.
"Well I think-"
"Tell me Mr. Sinclair is it wrong to hurt children?"
"Objection your honor" Langan called over.
"Your honor the people are just interested in knowing what Mr. Sinclair's moral stand is in pedophilia," Josh answered with a small smile.
"Don't even think about it counselor" The judge warned returning the small smile at him "You're on thin ice Mr. Bridges"
"Yes your honor" Josh nodded and came over to Casey "Want anything to add?" He whispered to her.
"So far so good" Casey whispered back.
Josh nodded and returned to questioning. "Mr. Sinclair, true or false. Are you attracted to little girls?"
"Mr. Bridges" The judge yelled.
"Mr. Sinclair are you ashamed of your penis size that's why you rape little girls?" Josh smiled a little.
"You're in contempt!" The judge yelled.
Mr. Sinclair jumped over the stand and choked Josh. Josh fell back on the ground and punched him.
The court guards quickly grabbed Mr. Sinclair and pulled him off. "I'm going to kill you, you bastard!" Mr. Sinclair yelled as the guards pulled him out of the courtroom.
Josh groaned and held the back of his head.
Casey quickly kneeled down by him "Are you ok?"
He nodded and sat up "My head hurts like hell though"
"Mr. Bridges, I know I'm kicking you while you're down but your bail is 500 dollars" The judge said giving him a look.
Josh rolled his eyes and got off the floor "Call my dad" He told Casey and let the guards take him.
Casey just nodded and gathered all the files off the desk.
Later that night everyone was out celebrating the win they got for that case.
"Here's to Bridges for pissing off Sinclair" Fin held up his beer "Good win kid"
"Thanks dad" Josh held up his beer with a smile.
All of them returned to talking. Fin and Elliot were talking and John and Casey had their own conversation going on.
Olivia took a sip of her beer and sat down by Josh "How's the head?"
"I thinking about petioning to get softer marble floors in the court room" Josh smiled at her.
Olivia just chuckled "You did it on purpose didn't you?"
"Fall down? I didn't really have a choice you know"
"Pissing him off" Olivia answered.
Josh smiled with a wink "The jury saw him angry and threaten me and that's what affected their decision"
Olivia smiled a little "So you always make the suspect angry to win your case?"
"When the suspect rapes a five year old girl yes. Desperate times call for desperate measures…and those measures were getting yelled at by my dad"
Olivia just smirked "That was sweet of you to get held in contempt for Lilly"
"Sure." Josh nodded "Now detective are we flirting or working?"
"We always work" Olivia answered with a small smile.
"You know we could finish this conversation in my apartment" He whispered smirking.
"What will we do after that conversation?" Olivia whispered with a flirtatious smile.
"Whatever you want detective Benson"
Olivia nodded a little "Lets get out of here"
Josh finished his beer and got up "Lets go"
Olivia grabbed her jacket and put it on "We're going to go"
The other detectives waved and returned to talking. Casey looked at Josh and Olivia leaving and felt completely broken since she couldn't stop thinking of him at night.
She grabbed her jacket and followed them outside knowing she had to tell him how she felt "Hey Josh" She called after them.
Josh and Olivia stopped and turned around "I'll catch up to you" He told Olivia and walked back to Casey "What?"
Casey looked at him and then Olivia. She knew she didn't want to ruin Josh's night and just make things harder for him. She looked at Olivia and couldn't imagine how horrible she would feel to screw over one of her friends since Olivia was one of her best friends. Casey finally just gave him a hug "Goodnight"
Josh hugged her back being totally confused "You ok?"
"Fine, just glad we won that case" Casey lied trying to hold back tears smelling his cologne that always comforted her, she slowly let him go "I'll see you tomorrow" She whispered and turned around and headed home.
Josh just stood where he was looking at her walk away. "You want me to walk you home?"
Casey turned to look at him "Olivia's waiting" She said trying to hold the sadness out of her voice. She put her hands in her jacket pocket and kept walking.
Josh shook his head never seeing Casey that way before. Did she want to tell him something more? That couldn't have been it since they were good friends and he couldn't imagine her having feelings for him. He turned around and caught up to Olivia.
"She ok?" Olivia asked looking over at Josh.
"Yea, I think so" Josh nodded as they kept walking. He wanted to talk to Casey and find out what was bothering her but he was with Olivia and didn't want to let her down. Love was really complicated. Josh stopped in his tracks thinking that thought.
Olivia looked at him "What's wrong?"
He didn't move. Was he in love with one of these girls and didn't even know it?