A/N: In a hurry, so thanks for reading and reviewing, etc, I'll put up the next chapter in a little bit once I've wrote it!
Elliot closed his door and walked back into the living room, flopping down onto his favourite armchair.
"Are you going to go?" Olivia asked from the sofa.
"Liv, when you went to Casey's apartment, what did you see? Don't spare any details."
Olivia got up from the sofa and began to pace. "Casey was flustered when she answered the door. I knew she was hiding something. She let me in, reluctantly. I apologised for yelling at her, but she was distracted and eager for me to leave. I was about to go, when Alex sauntered out of her bedroom."
"Is there any way you could have misjudged the situation?" Elliot asked, "maybe she was just staying over."
Olivia scoffed, "Sure El, she was just having a big ADA sleepover. I'll bet the only reason I didn't see Carmichael was because she was back in Casey's room waiting for her nail polish to dry."
Elliot sighed. "Maybe she was acting suspicious cause she knew you'd be pissed that she was hanging around with your ex."
"How do you explain the marks on her neck then?" Olivia asked. She had a point. But Elliot's stomach had been knotting ever since that morning. He had never seen Casey look so scared, and he had seen her face down plenty scarier things than a cheated on partner. Slowly, he got to his feet. He needed to hear it from Casey. He grabbed his coat.
"I'll be back soon." He said, walking out the door.
************
Casey glanced back over the couch to see Alex re-enter, empty handed.
"Didn't you go to get takeout?" She asked.
Alex froze. "Shit. Never mind, I think they deliver."
Casey was suspicious now. "Where did you go then?"
Eames emerged from the kitchen, "Casey, we have to be understanding of those more blonde than ourselves."
Both Alex's joined Casey on the couch. Eames had picked up a Chinese takeaway menu. "This place is pretty good." She said.
"Seriously Alex, where did you go?" Casey pressed, more insistently. She didn't like the guilty look Alex had shot her when she asked the first time.
"Drop it Casey." She warned. Eames looked between the two women, confused.
"Alright, I was trying to be cool with this, but this is getting too weird, what the hell is going on here?" Eames said standing up. She stood, casting her eyes back and forward between the two lawyers. Alex sighed.
"I'll explain over dinner."
************
Ten minutes later, the doorbell buzzed.
"I'll get it!" Eames announced, and before Alex could stop her, she flung the door open. "Hey, you're not Chinese."
"Very observant Detective." Elliot said. Eames shrugged and stepped out of the way, letting Elliot enter the apartment.
"Welcome to Chez Alex." She said.
"Elliot?" Casey said, then she turned to Alex, "that's where you went."
"Yes, you two need to talk, no arguments." Alex got up and ushered Elliot to the couch. Casey nudged up to the edge of the couch, putting a space between them.
Both remained silent. Alex stood in front of them. Finally, Casey spoke.
"Elliot, I didn't sleep with Alex."
"Okay," Elliot said, still not looking at Casey "explain those marks then."
Casey couldn't help it. Tears began to fall. She hated how this had turned her into such a baby. Olivia hadn't just violated her body, she had taken something else. She put her hands in her face choking as her tears gave way to full on, violent, wracking sobs. She felt Elliot's hand on her shoulder.
"Casey, what happened." He asked, his voice was laced with fear now. She felt his body move closer. Instinctively, she pulled away. "Casey, you're scaring me now…"
Casey gained enough control to speak again, "Elliot, I…I always thought I would fight it harder,"
Elliot looked up to Alex, "please tell me she isn't trying to tell me what I think she is?" Alex realised why Casey hadn't wanted to tell Elliot. She could see the pain and desperation in his face. The words stuck in her throat.
"I was raped." Casey blurted out.
************
Elliot felt like someone had let off a nuclear warhead in his gut. He had called Casey, he was going to see her. The he fell asleep. He was a-fucking-sleep while his girlfriend was being raped.
He was going to kill him.
He was going to kill that son of a bitch, that was decided, he was going to kill him, take him to the hospital, get him resuscitated, then he'd kill him all over again. He felt his hands turn into fists so tight his nails dug sharply into his palms. This was the nightmare that kept him awake at night, and suddenly, it was real. It made sense now, Casey's nerves when Olivia had visited. The marks on her body, Casey had called Alex around for safety. She had probably been too ashamed to call him or Olivia. The pieces started to fit. All the pictures of rape victims, their injuries, personal and vicious, scarred into his brain no matter how hard he tried to forget, remain numb, suddenly they all had Casey's face on them.
"Who did it?" Elliot said. His voice was a rumble and his whole body was shaking. "I'm going to kill him," he promised, he began to babble, "did you get a rape kit done? Was it someone you know? We're going to nail this bastard, I'll break his neck…"
"It wasn't a he…" Casey managed. He looked at Casey, confused. She had stopped crying now, and was just staring blankly at the wall. He caught a glimpse of her wrists, bruised and scuffed. The bastard had used handcuffs. He felt another wave of rage wash over him and he had to focus, to ensure he didn't turn the coffee table in front of him over.
"What are you talking about?" He asked.
"It was Olivia." Casey said. Elliot's head began to spin. He got up abruptly, storming out the door. He couldn't process this. He felt drunk as he stumbled down the stairs of the Alex's apartment building. He couldn't understand. He needed a moment alone.
************
Alex chased Elliot as fast as she could. But he was moving fast, easily outstripping her for speed with his long stride. She called after him, but was pretty sure he couldn't hear anything.
By the time she caught up with him in the alley by the apartments, she heard a violent bang, and another, and another.
"Elliot!" She called again, as she rounded the corner to find Elliot in a one-sided punch-up with a big yellow metal dumpster. His fists pounded into the side of the metal waste receptacle, leaving massive dents in his wake. She yelled at the top of her voice, "stop!" Elliot halted his assault on the dumpster. Breathing heavily, he stared at Alex.
"What do I do Alex? If this was a guy, I'd kill him, but Liv? Why would she do that? How?" Tears glistened in his blue eyes and his face was blood red.
"I know it's hard to believe Elliot, but trust me. I know. Olivia did this."
Realization dawned on Elliot, he stepped closer to Alex, "but you, and Liv, you were…"
"Didn't you wonder why I never came back after I came out of the WPP? I never had the courage to leave, but that forced me to. And once I had some time alone, I finally managed to admit to myself that I was in an abusive relationship."
Elliot took Alex's hands, "I never realized…"
Alex sighed, "No one ever suspects it. If I had boyfriend, and came to work with bruises and lame-ass excuses people would be jumping all over me to leave him. But cause I had a girlfriend, everyone just assumes that doesn't happen."
"I'm so sorry," Elliot said
"I'm not the one you need to apologise to." Alex said, turning her back on him. She didn't need him to see her cry. She could hear him following as she made her way back to her apartment.
************
Casey had pulled her knees up to her chest and let the tears fall freely. Eames had tried to comfort her, but Casey couldn't stomach it. She had swatted her away. She absently heard Elliot and Alex re-enter the apartment, then felt the chair depress next to her. She glanced up to see Elliot sitting next to her.
She felt him wrap an arm around her she tried to push him off, but he didn't let her. Resisting her protests, he scooped Casey's folded form onto his lap, pressing her head against his chest and whispering 'shushes' into her copper hair as she cried. In a few minutes, her sobs had stopped, and her breathing settled down to a slow rhythmic pattern and she fell asleep, her body thoroughly exhausted.
************
The Alex's had rejoined Elliot in the living room. Casey was sleeping peacefully while Elliot cradled her.
"Alex, could you pass me my jacket?" He said quietly, so as not to wake her "I have something in there for Case." He said both Alex's looked at him quizzically he had to stifle a laugh, "either Alex." Alex Cabot rose and tossed Elliot his jacket, forgetting he had Casey in his lap. She woke up mumbling as Elliot quickly took the coat off her head.
Casey glanced around the room then slid herself off Elliot's lap, looking a little self conscious.
"I got something for you," Elliot said, reaching into his coat pocket, and producing a large, rattling jar.
"Rainbow sprinkles?" Casey asked, accepting the jar. "This doesn't make us even you know."
"Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how hard those are to find?" Casey looked sceptical, so he added. "I had to trade the twins for that!"
Alex Cabot smiled "Sounds like a good deal to me."
Eames elbowed Alex. "This one hates kids. I tried talking her around to the idea, but eventually I decided to just switch out her birth control for placebos. Only a matter of time now." Elliot laughed. Casey and Alex just looked at each other, confused by the biological inaccuracy of the statement.