"Olivia, Elliot! You need to see this!" Melinda says, walking towards the detectives. She has Gabby's file in her hands.

Olivia and Elliot stand up. "What is it?" Elliot asks.

"The other day I was putting the results of the rape kit in Gabby's file. I saw that there was a copy of her birth certificate in her file. As I looked at the birth certificate, I saw Casey listed as Gabby's mother," Melinda begins.

Olivia furrows her brow. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What? Are you sure it said Casey's name?" she asks.

Melinda nods. She opens the file and hands the birth certificate to Olivia. Olivia and Elliot look at it. Olivia scans the document for the mother's name. Sure enough, Casey is listed as the child's mother.

"Are you saying that Gabby is Novak's daughter?" Elliot questions.

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I think you two need to speak with Casey," Melinda replies.

Suddenly, the two detectives and medical examiner hear the rhythmic clicking of high heels on the ground. They turn around and see Casey walking towards them. Olivia quickly shoves the birth certificate back into Gabby's file and closes it. "Hi, Casey," she greets casually.

Noticing Olivia's erratic handling of Gabby's file, Casey raises an eyebrow.

"Hello, Olivia..." she responds with growing suspicion. "Is there something going on?"

Olivia, Elliot, and Melinda exchange nervous glances. Casey clears her throat, causing them to look back at her. She stares at them, waiting for someone to talk.

Olivia sighs.

"Casey, we were looking through Gabby's file, and we found a copy of her birth certificate," she says, killing the mounting tension.

Casey feels her throat tighten. She bites her lip, anxiety building up inside of her. She shifts her weight from one foot to the other. Her eyes seems to be fixated on the tiled ground.

"You were listed as Gabby's mother," Elliot tells her.

"There are a lot of people share the same name as me," Casey blurts out, her voice more panicked than she would've liked.

Olivia opens Gabby's file and removes the birth certificate. She holds it towards Casey. "But how many people are named Cassandra Elizabeth Novak?" Olivia asks, trying to make eye contact with Casey, who keeps her eyes glued to the floor.

"Casey, is Gabby your daughter?" Melinda asks, her voice gentle but inquisitive.

Casey's teeth dig deeper into her lip, drawing blood. "I don't have a daughter. Now will you please excuse me? I have to prepare for court," she says dispassionately. She is surprised that she managed to speak without emotion. She curtly tells the detectives and medical examiner goodbye, then turns around. She walks away, trying to maintain a steady pace, so she won't cause any suspicion.

Knowing that she needs space right now, Olivia, Elliot, and Melinda don't make any attempts to follow Casey.

Safely locked up in her office, Casey pulls the blinds shut. She grabs a tissue and blots the clotting blood from her lips. The metallic taste in her mouth makes her gag a little. She crumples the tissue, then drops it into her trash can. As she sits back down, she unlocks one of the drawers in her desk. She pulls out her own copy of Gabby's file and starts shuffling through the paper in it.

She tries to focus her attention on the present and preparing for court, but her mind keeps straying to the past.


~ Flashback ~

Panting heavily at 1:39 in the morning, twenty-three year old Casey falls back into the bed, her red hair plastered onto her sweat-dampened face. Tears trickle down her cheeks as she begs her fiancé, Charlie, to call an ambulance.

Casey screams, gripping the bloodied bed sheets as a contraction ripples through her. This earns her a painful slap across the face from Charlie.

"DAMMIT, CASEY! ARE YOU TRYING TO WAKE UP THE WHOLE FUCKING NEIGHBORHOOD!?" he yells in her face as rage bubbles up inside of him.

"Charlie, the baby's coming. Please, call an ambulance," Casey pleads in a hushed voice. "I promise not to tell them anything!"

Charlie chuckles and shoots Casey a patronizing look. He tucks a damp lock of hair behind her ear. "You think I'd believe a whore like you?" he says.

Casey winces as another contraction grips her in its vices, her chest rapidly rising and falling. More tears stream down her face as the contraction's intensity grows. She

This is not how Casey pictured the birth of her first child.

Ideally, she would've been a few years older and finished with law school. She would be married to the love of her live and be financially stable. Her husband would drive her to the hospital as soon as she felt the first real contraction. She'd be in a private birthing suite, hooked up to an epidural. Her obstetrician would check in on her periodically until she was ready to deliver. When she's finally be ready to deliver, her obstetrician would come into the room, fully outfitted in scrubs and protective gear for the birth. Her husband would be excited, but panicked. He get her ice chips and hold her hand. Casey would scream things at him that she'd later take back, and she'd deliver a healthy, full-term baby as her loving spouse coached her through the birth.

Her current birthing situation is far from ideal.

Right now Casey is laying in the bed that she shares with her fiancé. It's the same bed that he's repeatedly raped her in. She's been in labor for the past nineteen hours, confined to the small bedroom. Charlie screams at her, berating her because she hasn't delivered the baby yet. She is only thirty weeks pregnant, her labor brought on by the high levels of stress that she's been under. Charlie won't let her seek medical help because the voices in his head are telling him that he can deliver the baby by himself.

After several more agony-filled hours, Casey is finally ready to start pushing. She pushes for what seems like an eternity with Charlie screaming at her. Just when she thinks she can't go on any longer, she hears a feeble cry pierce the air.

With shaking hands, Casey slowly pulls back the bed sheet that is draped over her lower body. She hesitantly peers at the pool of blood between her legs, straining her neck.

A tiny, premature infant stares back at Casey with green eyes that are identical to her own.

Through her bleary, tear-filled eyes, Casey can tell that the baby is much smaller than it should be, even for a preemie.

She reaches down and carefully lifts the baby out of the blood-soaked sheets, gently cradling it with natural instinct. The baby's wails quiet to soft gurgles here and there when it's in Casey's arms.

"Good job," Charlie comments flatly before leaving the room.

Casey stares at the small infant in her arms. She feels her heart swell with immense joy and love - something she hasn't felt in a long time. She inspects the baby, learning that she gave birth to a little girl. More tears fall from her eyes, but these tears are different. They're not the same tears of anger, fear, or sadness that had been cried before. They're tears of joy.

Her joy is cut short when Charlie reenters the room.

Charlie makes his way towards the bed. He takes a picture of Casey and the baby, then he takes one of just the baby. Afterwards, he wordlessly snatches the infant away from Casey. He turns around, heading out of the bedroom.

"Charlie, please don't take her!" Casey cries as her tiny baby is ripped from her arms. She struggles in vain to get out of the bed, weak from blood loss. She begs Charlie to let her have a few more minutes with the baby, but her pleas are ignored.

The last thing she hears is the front door of the apartment open, then slam shut again.

~ End of Flashback ~


A knock at the door brings Casey back to the present.

She looks up, still trembling at the memory.

The person at the door knocks again.

Casey forces herself out of her chair, unlocks her door, then opens it. She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees that it's just Olivia.

"May I help you?" she asks in a voice that's surprising calm for someone who's just relived over twenty-four hours of horror in the span of a few minutes.

Olivia immediately notices the look in Casey's eyes. She's seen that look before. A lot of the victims that she's spoken to have worn the same look. It's a look of fear, of helplessness.

"Hey, are you okay, Casey?" she asks quietly.

Casey nods and tells Olivia that she's fine. She asks if there's something she can help with again.

Deciding not to pry any further, so she won't upset the ADA, Olivia backs off. Instead, she asks Casey how Gabby's case is coming along, launching a brief discussion about the case. Once they wrap up their conversation, Olivia politely leaves Casey alone again.