A/N Ok, I am going to do a follow up story that links in to some of the events in this one, so bear with me on the side stories, they will be explored in more detail then, I just need to lay the groundwork. Hope its not getting too confusing!

Anyhow, let me know if you guessed the secret! Not that I'll let you know if you're right or not ;-P

Oh, and please review if you have a moment, you know you want to! Also, if anyone can recommend any ace C/E fics, I'll make sure to read and review them, I know I'm being lazy, but there are a hell of a lot of SVU fics to sift through! x

Chapter Ten: A Beautiful Lie

OLIVIA BENSON'S CAR, THE STREETS OF NEW YORK CITY

Casey sat in the passenger seat, nerves evident.

"Where are we going?" Casey asked finally, when they had been driving for a few minutes.

"There was an address on the notepad next to Elliot's phone, I guessed that was as good a place as any to start." She said, keeping her eyes on the road, though it was post-rush hour, and the cars were sparse and moving quickly. They were now in a more suburban area, and tall buildings had given way to two story houses surrounded by neatly manicured lawns and much maligned white-picket fences. "Not far from your old neighbourhood." Olivia comment casually.

"I've never told you where I grew up." Casey shot back, surprised. Olivia cursed internally. Casey had never told her. But she had been around here just last week.

"Yeah, you did." Olivia said, trying to sound nonchalant. Casey didn't look convinced, "what, do you think I'm stalking you or something?"

"No, course not." Casey said.

"We're here." Olivia said, parking the car in front of a pretty generic looking house except for a large tree stationed in the front garden which was well overdue for a trim. Casey followed Olivia up the pebble-dashed drive, looking up at the windows for signs of life.

Olivia had barely rapped on the door when a woman answered, opening the door just a crack and peeking out. Olivia held her badge up,

"Police." She explained. The woman opened the door completely, she was in her forties, was well kept but presently wearing a dressing gown, and was at least half a foot shorter than Liv herself. "My name's Detective Olivia Benson and this is my Partner, Detective Elliot Stabler." She said, on autopilot.

"Well come on in detectives," The woman said, in an almost eerily genial way. Casey was frowning at her. Olivia shrugged as she followed the woman inside. "Please take a seat, I'll be right back with beverages." She said, swiftly departing out of a nearby swinging door. Once she was out of range, Olivia said,

"Sorry Case, just slipped out. You better play along, don't want her to get suspicious. Besides, if she had taken a closer look at your shield she might have noticed it didn't have Novak on it.."

"You could have at least given me a girls name," Casey whispered.

"Maybe you should complain to your parents about that," Olivia teased.

"Casey is a boys and girls name…"

"So is Elliot…" Before they could finish their argument, the woman had returned with a tray containing a floral pattern teapot and an old fashioned coffee percolator and several china cups, and had even managed to get dressed into day wear. Or perhaps Olivia was just getting freaked out. It was probable that she was wearing that beneath her robe.

"How can I help you detectives?" The woman asked. He smile was vacant and haunting. It was then Olivia realized that she did not know the womans name, which wasn't going to look good when they were pretending to be there on official business.

"Mrs. Vander," Casey said with a smile, "we were wondering if we could ask a few questions about your husbands whereabouts last night." Olivia hoped to hell that Casey wasn't just guessing.

"Oh I don't know," The woman laughed, waving a hand dismissively, Casey seemed to have got it right, "he does what he likes, I try to stay out of it. Tea or Coffee?"

"Coffee please, is he around today?" Casey asked.

"Oh heavens no, he's at work Detective Stabler. I'm sorry, may I just call you Elliot? Surnames are terribly formal." Mrs. Vander said, handing Casey a cup of freshly made coffee and looking over to Olivia expectantly.

"Sure, why not." Casey said, sounding disgruntled.

"Coffee too please, so Mrs. Vander," Olivia began.

"Please, call me Viv."

"Ok, Viv, your husband, he does a lot of work for that group, M.I.T.P., as I'm sure you're aware…" 'Viv' cut in.

"Oh yes, it's a wonderful cause, don't you think?" Both Casey and Olivia had to pick their jaws up from the floor.

"I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one," Olivia said. She would have loved to get this woman in front out George Huang. Her stepford wives act was disturbing, and her eyes had a vacant stare that just screamed 'brainwashed'. On the up side, her slip of the tongue earlier had ruled out the possibility of Mrs. Vander knowing anything about Elliot's whereabouts.

Just then, there was a sound from the back of the house,

"Vivienne! I'm home, where are you?" A voice called. Vivenne jolted to her feet, scooting to the door.

"Just a moment Ladies, I need to see to my husband, he doesn't like unexpected visitors…" and with that Mrs. Vander disappeared into the kitchen.

"Shit!" Casey whispered, "if Nick Vander sees us here we're screwed!" Olivia looked back toward the front door.

"Shall we 'Elliot'?" Olivia said, moving with admirable silence to the front door, happy to find it was still unlocked. Casey took her cue and both bolted out the front door, jumping into Olivia's car. Olivia fired up the engine with a roar, and Casey couldn't help but feel just a little bit like they were one of her favourite on screen cop duos, Starsky and Hutch. For some reason though, Olivia didn't immediately slam on the accelerator, an act which would certainly have made the moment.

"Liv?" Casey said.

"Put your seatbelt on first Casey." Olivia frowned. Casey sighed, snapping the belt into place.

"Well that killed the scene." She muttered, only aware she had said it out loud when Olivia looked at her, puzzled,

"Huh?"

"Nothing, drive." Casey said. Finally, Olivia pulled out of the driveway.

"How did you know that was Nick Vander's wife?" Olivia asked, checking her rearview to make sure they hadn't been followed. Satisfied that was the case, she slowed the car to an idle cruising speed.

"I saw the name on a stack of post as we were walking in." Casey said, trying to sound casual, but still coming off smug.

"Good spot counsellor." Olivia nodded, feeling proud for reasons she couldn't quite explain. She carried on driving, deliberately taking the long way out of the neighbourhood, so that they would drive past Casey's parents house, where she had been just a week ago. She saw a vague flicker of recognition in Casey's eyes as they past her old house, but she said nothing.

"Nice houses are here." Olivia commented passively.

"Mmm." Casey replied. "So, where to next?"

A WEEK AGO

"Casey's middle name is Bracha. It's Hebrew for 'A Blessing'." The woman had said, as she had pressed a cup of coffee into Olivia's hands. It wasn't hard to tell that Casey was an only child. The mantlepiece of the spacious bungalow the Novak's called home was effectively a shrine to the ADA, and looking at it from left to right, it looked like a timeline of Casey though the ages, from newborn right to present day. A few other photographs were scattered around, of her parents, most likely before Casey had been born, a wedding photo, and a couple of Casey's father, Joshua Novak in uniform.

Casey's mother, Hannah Novak, was a small, but dignified woman. Her hair was a dark shade of brown, but Olivia couldn't tell if it was natural, though she guessed it wasn't from the way it contrasted so sharply with her pale complexion.

"Me and Joshua, we had been trying for a baby before he went out to 'Nam." Hannah said, eyes turning dreamy, perhaps slipping mentally back to times past. "We picked the name 'Casey' before she was even conceived, and Joshua, before he went, he got the name tattooed across his bicep, so that even if I only found out I was pregnant after he shipped out, he'd have our baby's name tattooed on him." She smiled, glancing up at the pictures on the mantle piece. "Before we married, we both knew we wanted a big family, as many as we could support."

"What stopped you?" Olivia asked.

"Well, I never did get pregnant before he had to ship out," Hannah said sadly. "In a way, I was glad. I was worried that he would get killed out there, and I'd have to raise our child alone. Thinking back, I can't believe how selfish I was to think like that…"

"Hey, things were different then," Olivia said comfortingly. She couldn't quite believe that this softly spoken woman had produced their brash, forthright ADA, "being a single mom wasn't what it is now."

"The trouble was, he did come back. But not all of him." Hannah said. "they gave him a purple heart. Some consolation…" She scoffed, a touch of bitterness colouring her words. Ever the Detective, Olivia had noticed that there was a ramp leading up to the front door, and all the furniture was placed with ample room about it.

"Everyone else in his helicopter was killed when it went down for the third time," Hannah recounted, "Joshua, well, he lost his legs, broke near enough every bone in his body, but he survived, barely. And I was so, so glad to have him back…" Her words trailed off. "He was medically discharged, we bought this place so he could get around with the payout he got. I needed to support him, so I started going to college. Joshua, he wouldn't speak for weeks at a time, and when he did he was miserable, morbid even. The doctors told him he would never walk again. Along with that, he would never be able to father a child. There were times, I feared he was going to harm himself whilst I was away, he became obsessed with guns. It went on for months."

Olivia blinked, only realizing then that she had tears in her eyes,

"Then what happened?" Olivia asked, voice faltering.

The older woman smiled at the mantle piece, "then, I told him I was pregnant. It was as if someone had turned the light back on in his eyes. Suddenly where he was silent before, I couldn't shut him up. He started going to his physiotherapy, finally got himself fitted for prosthetic legs. He said someone's gotta teach him or her how to pitch a baseball. He started going to church again. I remember when I was a few months along, we were laid on the bed, he had his ear pressed to my baby bump, he loved to do that, and he told me, he finally knew why God had kept him alive in 'Nam." Hannah was misty eyed too now. "Casey is his little miracle. I don't doubt for a moment, Casey being born saved Joshua's life."

"But what about you?" Olivia asked, "you've been keeping this secret for years…"

"What about me?" Hannah said, "Olivia, here's what I think: Everything happens for a reason, and everything worth having has a price. I have a wonderful husband, and a beautiful, perfect little daughter all for the price of a secret kept. It seems like a fair trade off to me."

Olivia nodded silently.

A WEEK LATER

OLIVIA BENSON'S CAR, THE STREETS OF NEW YORK CITY

The evening dark was easing in, and Olivia Benson drove aimlessly through the streets, wasting petrol and wondering where to go next.

"Liv, are we actually going somewhere, or are you just hoping that we might run over Elliot by accident?" Casey asked, as they circled the same block for the third time. Olivia snapped out of her thoughts,

"Uh, sure, we just need to…" Olivia took a different turn at the crossroads this time, hoping to provide a facsimile of an objective

"You have no idea." Casey said, crossing her arms; looking annoyed, but surprisingly alert at the late hour. Olivia had to admire the other womans ability to recover from a drinking bender.

"Maybe we should call it a day." Olivia admitted, "those M.I.T.P. bastards are holding a meeting tomorrow, since it's a Saturday we'll be able to go without also having to go AWOL from the precinct."

"In disguise?" Casey asked, sounding hopeful.

"If you want." Olivia smiled, making a u-turn and heading back across town toward Casey's place.

"You can crash at mine if you want," Casey said, reading her mind. Olivia did not want to explain to her boyfriend Kurt that she was late home because she was out searching the streets for her missing partner. He wasn't exactly 'understanding' of her relationship with Elliot, and that was putting it mildly.

"I'll make dinner," Olivia offered.

"Why, so we can beg more time off work come Monday if we still haven't found Elliot?" Casey asked, finally relaxing a little. Olivia had found that while Casey was wound pretty tight at work, it seemed to just be a necessity of her job. Outside of work, she was actually quite laidback.

Olivia frowned, taking mock offence, "oh come on, it was only mild food poisoning!"