As Casey sat bundled up on her couch watching some pointless late night TV she heard a pounding at the door. Fear immediately seized her body as she thanked herself for chaining the door shut. Then again, why would Elliot not just use his keys?
"Casey Novak, open this door up right now," she heard a man demand from the other side of the door. The voice was muffled so she couldn't exactly hear whom the voice was coming from. She reluctantly stood up and turned off the TV as she made her way over to the door to peer through the peephole.
"Casey, open up this fucking door before I break it down!" she heard the voice demand again, but as she got closer she recognized it.
"Mike!" she exclaimed as she unchained the door and flung it open. She ran into her brother's arms, only to recoil in pain. He took one look at her and gasped. He stepped back to take a closer look at his little sister as his eyes traced every injury on her body.
Casey awkwardly shifted her weight on her feet; she hadn't been expecting anyone at her apartment that night, so she hadn't bothered to cover anything up, so when there was someone at the door she forgot all about it.
"Oh, Casey…" he sighed as he gently pulled her into another hug. He tenderly kissed the top of her head as he continued to hold her tight, before leading her into her apartment and closing the door behind them.
---
After Casey had abruptly left the office without a word to Elliot, he decided to visit her at her apartment to try and make amends for his behavior. He had stopped to get her roses and chocolates, and had been preparing what to say the whole way there.
As she arrived on Casey's floor he saw a man standing at her door and hid out of view of both the man and Casey. The man was tall and good-looking, which just made Elliot more jealous.
As Casey ran directly into the man's arms, Elliot began fuming with anger. He had to restrain himself form running over there and breaking her neck right that second. He watched as he kissed her and led her into her apartment. He was furious as he stormed out of the building, vowing to deal with his unfaithful girlfriend later.
---
"Casey, what the hell happened to you?" Mike asked once they had sat down on her couch and he had made them both coffee. Casey shrugged, unable to meet her brother in the eye.
"Come here, it's killing me to look at you. Who the hell did this? I'm going to kill him, Casey. I'm actually going to kill him," he insisted as he gently pulled her into another hug. She let herself go limp in her brother's arms as he protectively moved closer to her.
"Don't say that, then it's premeditated," she joked, unable to refrain from the law jokes in such a perfect moment.
"Shut up, dork," he teased as he continued to hold onto her. She smiled, feeling safe for the first time with her brother to protect her.
"It's the boyfriend, isn't it? I'll kill him, Casey, I really will," he insisted, and she didn't doubt for a second that he would.
"What are you doing?" she asked him as he pulled away from her and stood up, pulling the blanket off her shivering, aching body.
"I can't stand this anymore, let me see... he punched you in the eye, slapped you a couple of times. He kicked you on your legs, and I saw the bruise on your shoulder when your sleeve fell before. Oh, and don't even get me started on your ribs, Case. How could he do all this to you?" he exclaimed. She rolled her eyes at him as she grabbed the blanket to cover herself back up.
"Stop it," she demanded.
"I'm not letting you see him. We're breaking up with him and then getting you a restraining order. Now."
"Mike, 'we' are breaking up with him? Since when are you part of this relationship? It's not that simple. It was one fight and he's never touched me before…" she began, then received a threatening glare from her brother.
"I didn't say it was okay! All I said was I'm not breaking up with him yet. I'm not ready to give up, but that doesn't mean I forgive him and that doesn't mean I'm okay with it," she explained.
"I don't want you alone with him," he informed her. She shrugged.
"Well, I kind of work with him…" she explained.
"What!? Casey, this is by far the stupidest thing you've ever done! This guy is abusing you and the only way you're going to get away from him is if one of you changes jobs?" he exclaimed. She nodded miserably.
"It's not abuse yet. As of right now it's like... a fight bordering on abuse, so don't freak out until we really need to. And anyway, that's the least of my problems. My best friend is not only his partner but his best friend as well, and he has worked there literally like twice as long as I have. If anyone is leaving it's just going to be me…" Casey began as tears began to come to her eyes. She tried her best to blink them away, but she couldn't bear the thought of losing her job.
"You're not stupid, Casey, so stop acting like it," Mike said flatly. Casey stared at him with her mouth wide open.
"Did you really just say that?" she practically yelled.
"Casey, 'it's not abuse, it's bordering on abuse'? Did you really just say that?" he responded, mocking her question. "Come on, I know you're smarter than that," he challenged. She went to slap him across the face but he grabbed her wrist.
"Oh come on, Casey. You think you can slap your big brother and get away with it? I could break you in half with one finger. Don't test me, we grew up together," he threatened her, and she knew it was true.
"Oh my god, wait! Mike! What about your plans tonight!?" Casey gasped as soon as she remembered.
"Casey, shut up. You're way more important. Someone is hurting my baby sister, and there's no way in hell I'm letting that happen," he said.
"I told you to stop calling me that," she reminded him as she stood up.
"Shut up, you are my baby sister," he responded smugly, purposely provoking her.
She smirked in response. "Get out, I'll call you if I need you," she responded as she opened the door and led him out.
"Case…" he began. She knew he was going to tell her that he wouldn't leave her alone, but she didn't want to ruin his plans.
"Go home, make babies… ew. Pretend I never said that, just go home," she said as she slammed the door in her brother's face with a smile.
As she turned back into her apartment she realized that even though she didn't want to ruin her brother's plans, she didn't want to be alone either, so she finally decided to just call Olivia and ask her to come over.
---
As Casey hung up the phone after inviting Olivia over, she realized that she had to work on recovering all of her injuries now that she was having expected company. She was in the bathroom working on covering up the bruises on the exposed parts of her body when she heard the door slam open.
She knew that Olivia had keys, but she almost always knocked anyway. However she was the only one that Casey was expecting that night, so she stepped out of the bathroom to greet her. Instead of seeing Olivia, however, she was merely greeted with a fist in her face. She felt her lip split immediately and the blood trickle down her face as soon as the knuckles made contact. She stumbled backwards before pushing forward and trying to pass the furious man in front of her.
He grabbed both of her wrists as he slammed her up against the wall.
"El, come on, stop this…" she pleaded as she felt his alcohol-heavy breath against her face. "Oh my god, El, you're so drunk," she cried as she tried to wiggle out of his powerful grip.
She felt a knee collide with her stomach as she gasped for breath.
"Who the fuck was that man, Casey? You're cheating on me?" he accused her as he kneed her in the stomach again before slamming her wrists against the wall again. She tried to catch her breath to explain that it had just been her brother, but he had knocked the wind right out of her.
"Huh!?" he screamed right into her face. "Answer me, damnit! Who the hell was he? I'm not good enough for you?" he yelled as he slammed her harder against the wall. She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut as he continued to land blows in any way that he could while keeping her pinned to the wall. She didn't pass out this time, although she certainly wished she just would.
As she was slammed against the wall, accepting the blows and just waiting for darkness to overcome, she heard the door burst open and a voice scream out. Her vision was getting fuzzy as grey dots began to appear and block out everything else. She finally felt her body being released as she collapsed to the ground. She couldn't figure out who was there or what had happened before she slipped into unconsciousness once again.
---
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?" Olivia screamed as she slammed the apartment door open. She had heard drunken voices from inside, but hadn't become worried until she heard banging and yelling mixed with cries of mercy.
"She's cheating on me," Elliot slurred as he released Casey's limp body, allowing it to crumple to the floor. Olivia stood in shock for a minute before rushing to the unconscious body sprawled on the floor.
"Elliot, what the hell did you do!?" she exclaimed as she gathered her friend in her arms. She could hardly stand to look the man she trusted with her life in the eyes. She whipped out her cell phone with one hand as she held the young ADA's body in her other arm.
She dialed 911 and gave them the address, then gently laid Casey on the couch as she went to collect a couple things for her. When she returned from gathering some spare clothes she found Elliot sitting gently in front of the body as he tenderly stroked her hair back and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Don't you dare touch her. Get away from her," she demanded as she walked over to where Elliot was sitting.
"I didn't mean to, Liv. She cheated on me," Elliot slurred again, clearly drunk out of his mind. If he hadn't been so drunk she would have kicked him out in a heartbeat. Instead Olivia just shook her head in disgust at him as they waited for the paramedics to arrive. She couldn't believe that her best friend for all these years was responsible for the horrific condition that her other best friend was in as she lay broken right in front of her.
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