Chapter Ten

"Brilliant. Never a more pleasant person to work with. Young, fierce, American Ambition, just what this company needs to thrive. Forget what they say about Americans you're the hardest worker I've ever met." Mycroft picked up another card and sigh "Must be the red hair."

"Why are you browsing through Ms. Novak's holiday cards?" Sherlock snapped from his chair.

"No that last bit was mine. It must be her red hair." Mycroft said.

"Please keep your humor attempts to yourself, I'm trying to think."

"Think, think about mummy's Christmas dinner invite perhaps?"

"Anything, but that."

"Oh why is that?" Mycroft plucked another card from Casey's desk "I'm sure our parents would love our dear Ms. Novak, almost as much as her peers seem to. She really has worked her way up the ranks in such a short time. I see another promotion her way. In fact, I can insure it."

"Casey does not need your influence to bring her any higher in her job." Sherlock snapped.

"Of course she doesn't, this card says she's brilliant."

"Is there a reason for your visit Mycroft?"

"Not really, just browsing. Thought I'd check to see if there was any paper work you might need me to expedite." Mycroft scanned Sherlock's flat then returned his gaze to his stubborn little brother. "Think Sherlock, if she's climbing this high in her career won't she want to stay even when her censure is up? It's quite likely she may be preparing to leave right now, but maybe if she gets that promotion, she'll stay a bit longer."

"You know Ms. Novak, there is nothing she loved more than being an ADA. She would not give that up for some half rate job at a news station." Sherlock muttered and tried not to sulk "Anyway, what is this, concern about her?" Sherlock's brows crossed "Are you, setting me up? Putting the burden of carrying on the family name on me?"

"Why not? I would be free, Mum would be happy, so would you." Mycroft turned to his coat "Think about it."

"Oh but you're going at it all wrong. Casey would never settle for that job, no matter how high she was promoted."

"If its law she's interested in then..."

"No, get out. I have ten minutes before Casey comes home and I don't to share her attention with you." Sherlock opened the door and waited for Mycroft to pass.

"Christmas dinner then."

"Mum would be as disappointed as you when she learned of Casey's probable disappearance. Just, let it pass." Sherlock said and with a grimace Mycroft accepted then exited the flat. Sherlock slammed the door behind him then flopped in his chair.

Sherlock stirred in his sleep when Casey's mobile phone went off. Instinctively her hand fell over the phone and she pulled it to her ear sounding very much awake.

"Casey Novak Sex Crimes." She said before she could register her mistake, "Oh, sorry Bridg, Hey." Casey attempted to lean up from Sherlock's grasp but at what he heard he only made him hold on her tighter. Under the assumption that Sherlock was still asleep Casey made her conversation brief then ended the call. Then she sank back into the covers and returned to her rest, but Sherlock could not.

It was easy to hold her now, but Sherlock knew, Casey was slipping though his fingers. The automatic way she had answered her phone, it had happened more than once recently, and the dangerous cases she chose for them when she had time to be his assistant, they were all signs. Casey missed her work in New York.. Mycroft was right, she was going to leave soon. Sherlock subconsciously held Casey closer as he convinced himself that he would be fine when she left.

Casey pressed the bridge of her nose and stopped herself from sighing again as she sat in front of her computer. She pressed her lips together and occasionally she would scrub her face with her hands. Sherlock had been watching her for over an hour as he pretended to be in deep thought sitting in his chair. He knew, Casey had news, and it had nothing to do with her work in London. These reactions started a week before she began to mistakenly answer her phone with her former division. Sherlock could have just hacked her computer, emailed Olivia or even asked Mycroft, but he restrained himself. In truth he could not bring himself to do it, to rush the news that Casey would be taken away from him by her first and only love her job.

Sherlock had deduced her correctly when he first met her she lived for her job. At that time her job was not present so he never had to feel the envy that burned in his being from the thoughts of Casey being lured back by it. He had never expected it to be this hard, but he could not do much else. He knew this time would come. Casey would slip away and leave him to her memories of London. Sherlock pressed his face and groaned. This caught Casey's attention she stood asked him if he was alright. Then at his lack of response she sat at the edge of his chair.

Sherlock pulled Casey down and kissed her. Shocked by his response but not rejecting Casey let his lips caress hers and his arms encase her in his frame. Sherlock lifted Casey's shirt from her frame then Casey stopped him.

"We can't do this here in the sitting room." Casey laughed but Sherlock took the words seriously. He lifted Casey in his arms with her long limbs around him, and carried her into his bedroom. There Casey forgot her sighs and Sherlock buried his as he made love to his fascination until they both cried out in exhaustion.

Casey pulled back her collar her concealer in hand as Bridget walked into their company's restroom.

"Woah, Looks like you guys are having fun." Bridget winked at her cousin.

"Yeah, something like that. Been happening a lot lately." Casey scanned herself in the mirror.

"Did you tell him then? About New York? The reinstatement?"

"No, but he probably knows already."

"Doesn't mean you're not supposed to tell him. You can't just disappear on him like that."

"Had no intention of doing that." Casey closed her make up kit. "I just wanted to wait for the right moment. It'll probably be another year before I see the court room again."

"But you still have to leave come end of March right?"

"To get things started, yeah." Casey sigh.

"Just tell him, he deserves to know." Bridget said then winked "Plus he's a hot topic girls can't wait for him to be back on the market." Bridget laughed then stopped at Casey's expression "Sorry too soon? I thought it'd make you feel better, he's really not that hot of a topic no can get through to him so don't worry..."

Casey frowned, that information did not make her feel any better. She didn't want to leave London knowing that when she did she would leave behind a lonely Sherlock, who probably would not let anyone else in. Casey sighed and wondered if she could correct that error before she left.

Casey awoke to Sherlock's caresses. They had just spent a wonderful Christmas weekend with his parents. Mycroft was not subtle in his comment on how much their mother loved Casey and hoped to see more of her. Casey knew if anyone knew of her reinstatement, it was Mycroft. She just wondered if he got around to telling his brother yet.

Sherlock had been very affectionate lately, it was not the first night Casey had both fallen asleep and awoken to his caresses. He ran his fingers though her hair, occasionally traced her face with light kisses or simply held her to himself. It seemed as if the contact never ceased and while Casey enjoyed it, it began to make her burden harder to bear. Sherlock had been beyond tender with her, she did not know if she could look him in the eyes and tell him that all that was not good enough. Casey felt as if she was abandoning life with Sherlock to pursue after a dream. But it was not a dream, it was a reality, taken from her and now she finally got it back. She was given a second chance, but Casey wondered, if Sherlock would see it that way. They lay silently basking in each other's presence but tension swirled around them.

"Are you really not going to tell me Casey?" Sherlock sighed.

Casey blinked up at him.

"I know you're going back, I know you have been reinstated. I didn't even have to check your mail to find that out." Sherlock said. Casey bit her lips. "Sometimes I get these horrible thoughts, that one day, I wake up and you're gone. Without a word. And I would follow you of course, and rip New York apart until I found you. Even if it were only to say goodbye."

Casey's heart tore at the thought of Sherlock pursing her in such a way. She could not help but be reminded of Charlie her ex-fierce found dead in New York with only her business card on his person. She shook her head from those thoughts. Sherlock was different. He was if a sound mind for one, and he had great friends. He would survive. But the thought of leaving him still hurt. Casey pressed her eyes shut and released a small sob as Sherlock embraced her.

He kissed her forehead and settled her once more. "When do you leave?" He asked softly.

"In a few months." Casey said "It'll be a year before I can get back into the court room."

Sherlock rolled from the covers and sat at the edge of the bed. He raked his fingers through his curls then sighed

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Casey embraced his shoulders. Sherlock nodded then silently rose from the bed and left her in darkness.

Their days passed in sleepy silence that Sherlock was content to dwell in. If it were not for his random findings of Casey and pulling her into his chair with him, Casey might have mistaken Sherlock's silence for anger, but even as he ran his fingers through her hair she could not be sure what Sherlock was thinking.

Casey's peers prepared a New Year's party, it was a going away event for her. While she knew Sherlock was not upset with her, she was still surprised that he volunteered be her escort for the evening.

"You look good," Casey's eyes raked over Sherlock's snug black suit and crisp white shirt. "You look really good." She ran her hands over him.

"Of course, now smile Mrs. Hudson has a camera." Sherlock said and on the minute Mrs. Hudson stepped in with her camera.

"You're being awfully charming this evening- what's this going to cost me?"

"Three courtroom tales, five dances, all preferably before morning." Sherlock said and Casey nodded.

"Of course." She smooth her snug sapphire dress down and smiled at Sherlock then took his arm.

Casey could feel Sherlock's discomfort when they entered the bar crowded with her peers. Many of the reporters stopped and stared when they realized that Casey's long-term partner was Sherlock Holmes. Other reporters waved it off as old news they were not able to touch because they all had heard how Casey had grilled an editor for mentioning something of the sort a year ago.

The evening started off classy enough, light talks about future plans, promises to keep in touch which Sherlock had no problem pointing out were lies. Sherlock also took liberty in pointing out everyone who even slightly disliked Casey and considering Casey's ambition, there were quite a few. One person he directly noticed upon their entrance was Casey's soon to be former employer.

Whenever the older man's eyes landed on Casey Sherlock noticed it, and always placed his hands at the small of her back to keep her closer to him. He could not believe he had such a predator lurking this near to his Casey and how Casey could be so oblivious to it. He noticed she became even more oblivious as the evening passed and a few drinks were downed. But Sherlock could deal with this obliviousness, this Casey freed from her proper constraints. She danced freer and she laughed easier and she never let go of Sherlock's arm and clung to him as if he were the only one in the room.

Casey settled against the bar with Sherlock beside her and noted her coworkers. "She stays late, every night, very hard worker, very good journalist. Very smart." Casey said earnestly.

"I can see that, she's also having an affair with the editor." Sherlock said smoothly.

"Ok, well Megan over there, she has this great personality and she's very good at puzzles."

"She hates crowds and is only here to put on a good face because she wants your job."

"She doesn't like people, you don't like people. It would work."

"She's also not into men, and what do you mean it would work?"

"Oh not into men. Ok well Liz over there is..."

"Casey, what are you doing? Trying to set me up?"

Casey's frown was adorable but still revealing. "I," She bit her lips "I don't want you to be lonely... when I go." Casey's eyes watered "I worry about you..."

Sherlock took Casey's face in her palms. "What do you think, I would just pick up someone new once you're gone?"

"You'll need a new part-time assistant." Casey said, and "While I'm gone, what will you do?"

"I will wait." Sherlock said simply and Casey shook her head.

"You can't wait, you don't even know if I'm coming back. What if I get involved with someone else while I'm gone?"

"Then I will wait until you grow tired of him and return to me." Sherlock said simply.

"What if I don't get tired of him?"

"Then I will wait until he dies." Sherlock earned a look from Casey "Of completely natural causes, or the like." he added and Casey could not help but smile.

"You can't just wait forever." Casey said seriously "What if I never come back."

"I won't wait forever." Sherlock said as the next song began. "Just as long as you're still alive." Casey wanted to protest but the look Sherlock gave her stopped her. "You owe me one more dance Ms. Novak." Sherlock took Casey's hands and led her to the dance floor for what he knew could be his last time. He placed his hands on her slim waist as she placed her hands on his shoulders then with smooth grace, they shared the last dance of the year. When Casey began to cry against his suit Sherlock decided it was time to end their evening. And after a few more farewells and a few more drinks, Sherlock had Casey beside him softly in a cab on their way to his flat.

Sherlock poked at the fire while Casey poured herself a glass of wine and settled in his chair.

"I should enjoy this, I told you before, I don't usually get the chance to drink working with SVU." Casey slipped a wine glass into Sherlock's hands, they toast and she took another sip from her cup. "Sometimes, I don't even know why I want to go back." Casey sighed as she thought back to her first case. "I actually never wanted to be there to begin with." She stood so Sherlock could sit in his chair. Casey would have replaced herself in Sherlock's lap instead she stared at the flames of the fire place and sunk down before it. "My first case with SVU, we had to run a man down who had kidnapped a little girl. He hid her in a cooler, if we did not stop him he would have killed her. And I found her, as I held that little girl in my arms, I was sure I could not handle that division, and I wanted out."

"I assumed that would make you more passionate." Sherlock's voice lured Casey toward him.

"No," Casey said softly "I requested to be taken off that night. And when I pled with my boss because I did not want it, he told me that one day I would." Casey sighed again "He was right, after a while, I did, I wanted that job so badly. I was so determined, I was on fire and no one could stop me." Casey smirked "I was so determined. I even tried to prosecute a case while having walk with a stick after being physically assaulted."

"How did that happened?"

"A victim's brother attacked me for shaming his sister and convincing her to testify to being raped, but I wanted to continue to prosecute the bastard who had assaulted his sister. Like I said, no one could stop me."

"And did you?"

"No, they stopped me" Casey heard Sherlock's chuckle at her frown "But I would have, if they didn't pull me as a witness for the defense, and claim I was too emotionally attached to the case. Assholes."

Sherlock rose an eyebrow, Casey never cursed, he wondered why he had not explored her drunk traits more often, it seemed like it would be fairly amusing. Then Casey's tone changed and once again she looked childish as she fought to hold back her tears and her sentiment began to leak out.

"They are though." Casey said "They knight you, call you righteous and give you a shining armor. You fight the bad guys, help take the horrible people off the street, lock them up, and then they just, snatch it away. Just because you don't dance to their rules." A tear trekked down Casey's cheek "My last case, the case that I failed, that perp that got to walk he was guilty. I knew he was we had the evidence but he still got away." Casey turned from the fire then crawled into Sherlock's arms.

He held her close to him as she whispered. "In that court room, by those criminals, I have been choked, held at gun point and even hugged, it was unwanted, but in the end none of that mattered. I fight the monsters, but I have to play by the rules, if not, I become just like one of them. And it doesn't matter what they did. One mistake, and it voided every good case I had ever fought." Casey's voice sounded small "That's why I secretly don't want to go back." She said finally "I wish I could stay here, with you. Here, we can fight them, and you can and you do whatever you want to catch them. No one would ever turn on you."

"They did, once." Sherlock said "The results were quite damaging." Sherlock recalled his two year absence and all that had led up to it.

"What did you do? How did you fix it?" Casey asked. Sherlock closed his eyes as the realization dawned on him. He could not possibly expect Casey to let this reinstatement pass her by, nor did he want it to any longer. He understood, with she probably only half grasped.

"I didn't fix it." Sherlock said then pressed out the three words that would seal their faith "I came back." He earned Casey's teary gaze then he kissed her softly before he continued. "You have to go back too Casey. You have to set the record straight, you have to show them that everything you stood for was true, and you will fight for it. It is time to come out of hiding love." Casey buried her face into his chest. Sherlock felt as though that he may as well have pushed Casey out of his reach, he knew it was for the best.

"But what do I do after I've won?" Casey asked and feared the two words her superior had given her when she was censured. But Sherlock was silent. He stared long at the fire, his hands stilled in their process of caressing Casey's scalp as he fought with himself. Then when Casey had finally rested her head against his chest and submitted to the idea of sleeping there, Sherlock answered.

"If I asked you to consider coming back to me, would you?" Sherlock bit his lips and killed his anxiety by listening to Casey's breathing pattern as he waited for her answer. Then slowly Casey lifted her head and kissed him.

"Maybe...If I'm still alive." Casey smiled softly and Sherlock tightened his grip around her. He kissed her forehead once more before finally letting her submit to sleep.

Sherlock sat in his chair in the sitting room of his flat. It was quieter, emptier, but he was content. Casey had left weeks ago. There were no tears. Sherlock assured her that if she cried one tear at the airport he would have to accompany her in New York, and he was not sure if Detective Stabler was ready to settle their score. Casey had laughed and told him that by time she was back in office, he would be.

Sherlock knew that was an invitation to visit, but he had already decided he would keep his distance. Casey would return to the top on her own. She would defeat her monsters, and then when it was all over, however long that would be, she would return to him. Sherlock was not one to hope, he disliked all the feelings Casey had brought. But his experiment was yet not done, he wondered if it ever would be. He would just have to wait to find out.