A/N: So... last chapter. Thank you to all of you that have stuck with this. Particularly my three favorite reviewers: Clarissa, LittleMiszCaseyNovak, and zero-zip. (my sounding board). Ya'll are awesome. I'm currently working on another chapter fic and a one-shot, so keep your eyes peeled. Hope you enjoy how I decided to end this!

Chapter 10

Casey couldn't stop fidgeting. Olivia had forced her to get checked out by the Seaford EMTs, despite her very vocal protests that she was fine. Hungry, but fine. They had given her a clean bill of health (and a granola bar), and now she and Olivia were seated on the tailgate of the ambulance. "Where is he?" she muttered to no one in particular.

"He's probably finishing getting the house cleared," Olivia replied. She held up her hands in mock surrender at Casey's glare.

"He needs to come. Now." Casey turned her gaze back to the front door of the house, straining to see past the ocean of uniformed and plainclothes cops.

"He'll come. He's fine."

The young ADA didn't answer. She stared at the front door, willing Jack and Elliot to emerge from the darkened mansion. The sun was now a dark orange in the sky to the west, and it was becoming difficult to see in the gathering dust. She was exhausted, but most of all, she wanted to see the man she loved. They had heard the shot minutes before, and Olivia had to physically restrain her from running into the house.

Finally she spotted two tall figures coming out of the house. Elliot had one arm around Jack's shoulders. They looked incredibly exhausted.

Before Olivia could stop her, Casey leapt off the tailgate and dashed toward the two men. "Jack!" she called.

Jack looked up just in time to see Casey throw herself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around the woman he thought he'd never see again and held her close to his body. The pair didn't even notice Elliot leave them to stand by Olivia a few yards away.

Casey held him close and breathed in his scent. She could feel his stubble scratch against her cheek, like he hadn't shaved in days. "I knew you'd come," she said softly into his ear.

That was all it took. The tears he'd been holding back let loose and tracked down his cheek, falling softly into her strawberry-blonde hair. "I'm so sorry, baby," he whispered.

She pulled back a little so that she could look him in the eyes, but she still held his trembling body close to hers. "What for?" she asked, confused.

"For getting you into this mess," Jack replied quietly as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "If I hadn't called you, if I hadn't started this whole thing…"

A finger to his lips silenced him. Casey smiled and moved her finger to his cheek, gently wiping away his tears. "It's not your fault," she said quietly. Jack averted his eyes, unable to look her in the face. "Hey." She softly grasped his chin and forced him to look her in the eyes. "It's not your fault," she repeated as sternly and gently as she could. "If anything, I'm just as much to blame as you are. I should have checked my office more, paid more attention to things around me. I should have been more careful."

"Can you forgive me?" he asked softly.

Casey chuckled and snaked her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with the short dark hairs at the back of his head. "Baby, there's nothing to forgive." A seductive smirk played at the corners of her mouth. "Now what does a girl have to do to get a kiss around here?"

Jack laughed and pressed his lips to hers. Casey moaned into his mouth, and she couldn't stop a shiver as his tongue darted in. She needed to taste him as much as he needed to taste her, to know he was all right. Her knees buckled as his warm tongue stroked hers, and she felt warmth flood her entire being as his hand moved from her waist to touch her long hair, to twirl the soft red curls between his fingers. God, she loved this man.

Finally the need for oxygen overcame them, and they slowly pulled apart. Jack smiled as he opened his eyes and they connected with her shining, green orbs. "I love you," he whispered, pressing a kiss into her hair.

"I love you, too," she returned.

"You know..." Jack paused and took a deep breath. "Sullivan told me that I was just like him."

"But you're not."

"I know. But I almost shot him in there. In cold blood. I almost murdered him."

"But you didn't." Casey brushed a stray strand of hair out of his eyes and gently cupped his cheek. "You're a wonderful man, Jack. I've known that since the moment I met you. I love Jack Calhoun, the man that risked his life to save mine. Who you were pretending to be before doesn't matter to me."

A smile split his face, and he tightened his grip on her waist. "I'm a pretty lucky man, Casey Novak."

She grinned. "Damn right." His mouth crashed down on hers again, and the rest of the world just faded away.

7:28 p.m.
Mulroney's Bar
March 9

Casey flung open Mulroney's front door and dashed into the room. She chuckled to herself as she shook the spring rain from her jacket and hung it on a coat rack near the door.

Her green eyes scanned the half-empty room for her friends. Finally, she spotted Olivia and Elliot at a table in the center of the room. A smile spread across her face when she saw that Elliot's arm was draped across the back of Olivia's chair. She didn't have any solid evidence that the two were dating, but she certainly suspected that something was up.

As she approached them, Olivia looked up and a huge smile crossed her face when she spotted the red-head. "Hey, Casey," she greeted the ADA.

"Hey, guys!" She glanced at the bartender and ordered a beer. He nodded and smiled at the familiar red-head whose life had changed by walking into his bar six months ago.

Casey seated herself across from Elliot just as the bartender brought over her beer. She sipped it gratefully and sat back.

"Hey, where's your man?" Elliot asked. "He told us seven-thirty."

"He called a couple of minutes ago. Got hung up at the office. He'll be here soon." Jack had been reinstated as an agent a couple of weeks prior to this meeting. It was hard for her to believe that he'd only been back a month.

When the marshals had finally shipped all his belongings from Texas, she'd slyly suggested that he just move into her place. Jack had grinned at her and said, "Why not?" Their relationship had had its rocky points, since their personalities were similarly sarcastic and their schedules equally busy. But they'd managed to work it out, and Casey was happier than ever.

"You wouldn't happen to have any idea what this is all about?" Olivia asked, sipping her beer. "He wouldn't tell me a thing."

Casey shook her head and swept one of her red curls off her shoulder. "Sorry. He's been acting weird lately. I think he's hiding something."

Elliot cocked an eyebrow at her. "Now, why would he want to do something like that?"

She narrowed her eyes at him slightly, eliciting a grin from the detective. "Stabler, if you know something, you'd better tell me. Especially if you know what's good for you."

"Are you threatening an officer of the law, Counselor?" he teased.

"Damn right."

Olivia and Elliot chuckled, and Casey couldn't resist a grin.

The young attorney's face grew serious. "Seriously, though. You guys approve, right?"

"Hun, we've been through this," Olivia said, reaching across the table to gently squeeze Casey's hand. "He's a great guy."

"I don't know if we could've found you without him," Elliot said seriously.

Casey smiled. "Good."

Olivia suddenly looked past Casey toward the door. "Speak of the devil," she murmured.

Casey turned a little in her chair to see Jack hang up his coat next to hers. His gaze turned in their direction, and she smiled and waved. He returned the smile and went up to the bar. Jack spoke briefly with the bartender, who smiled and drew him a beer, and then he joined them at the table.

"Hey," he greeted them before he bent down and gently kissed Casey's lips. "Sorry I'm late." He slid into the chair beside Casey with a sigh. "Long day."

Murmurs of agreement echoed around the table. "So, Double-Oh-Seven," Elliot said, grinning at the chuckles from his friends at the use of his new nickname for Jack. "When're you gonna tell us why you called us all here?"

"My, my, you sure are impatient, Detective," Jack teased as he took a long gulp of his beer. "I just got here. I don't suppose you have plans after this?" He laughed heartily at Elliot's ill-disguised blush.

"You oughta be careful, Fibbie," Elliot shot back good-naturedly. "Next time I might not be around to save your scrawny hide."

Jack rolled his eyes and groaned. "Not again with that life-saving number."

Casey laughed as she wrapped an arm around her boyfriend's broad shoulders. "We're both very grateful, Elliot." Jack smiled and turned his head to softly kiss her lips.

"You two are bordering on disgusting," Olivia teased.

"Just wait, Liv," Jack retorted. "Pretty soon, you and Stabler here will be just like us." He grinned at the blush that spread across Olivia's tanned face.

Casey's eyes widened. "I knew it!" she crowed. "You're dating, aren't you?"

Elliot shrugged and smiled. "I don't know if you could call it 'dating'."

"We've been on a couple dinners," Olivia interjected. "Not exactly dating, per se."

Casey looked at them, not believing it for a second. "Right. That's a bunch of bull."

"So, Jack," Elliot quickly changed the subject. "How about it? Why'd you bring us here?"

Jack just smiled. He turned around in his chair and nodded at the bartender, who immediately cut off the quiet music that had been playing in the background. He cleared his throat and stood. "Listen up, everyone!" he called. Heads quickly turned to look at them.

"Jack, what's going on?" Casey asked, a confused expression on her pretty face.

"Just, hang on, honey," he said with a smile. "Everyone, listen up!" He turned to face his stunned girlfriend and her equally surprised friends.

"Six months ago," Jack began. "I met the most amazing woman in the world in this very bar. And she immediately changed my life. She made me into something far better than I could ever dream of being. She made me see the world in a different light, in a better light. And somehow, she found it in her to love someone like me. And I've never looked back."

He reached down and gently grasped Casey's left hand, tenderly cradling it in his right hand. "Casey, I've loved you since the minute I saw you. You've been the best thing that's ever happened to me. When you were missing, I got a glimpse of my life without you. And I never, ever want to experience that again. I want you by my side, for the rest of our lives."

Casey's eyes widened as he pulled a velvet box from his jacket pocket. Still holding her hand, he slowly dropped down onto one knee in front of her, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears. Jack deftly flipped the box open with his left hand, and Casey gasped. Inside was the most beautiful diamond ring she'd ever seen, the trio of diamonds in a white-gold setting sparkling in the lights of the bar.

"Casey Novak." Jack looked up at her, tears glistening in his own blue eyes. "Will you marry me?"

For a moment, she was struck dumb, both by the wonderful man in front of her and the beauty of the moment. "Oh my God," she murmured. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she reached out with her free hand to gently cup Jack's cheek. "Yes," she whispered, a huge smile crossing her face. "A thousand times yes."

Loud applause broke out across the bar as a smiling Jack slipped the ring onto her finger and helped her to her feet. Casey wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into his strong frame, smiling as she felt his hands rest on her hips. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he returned before capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

Six Months Later

Casey tried to quash the butterflies flitting around in her stomach as her mother straightened the long train on her pure white wedding dress. She glanced in the mirror at Olivia, who stood in the background in her brown and blue bridesmaid dress. "I'm so nervous, Liv," she said with a sigh.

"It's your wedding day, Casey," the detective replied with a reassuring smile. "You're supposed to be nervous."

"I feel like I'm gonna hurl. I don't think I've been this nervous since my first day of law school."

Linda Novak stood up and gave her daughter a smile. "Olivia's right, honey," she said with a smile, her fingers gently brushing through Casey's long red curls. "I was scared to death the day I married your father. But trust me. All those butterflies will go away the second you see him at the altar."

Casey smiled and wrapped her long arms around her mother. "Thanks, Mom," she whispered.

The older woman gently squeezed her daughter's waist and stepped back, pride shining in her own green eyes. "I'm so proud of you, Casey. He's a good man." Over the past six months, the entire Novak family had fallen in love with Jack Calhoun. His witty humor and gentle way of dealing with Casey had deeply impressed Linda and her husband.

She grinned. "I wonder if he's as nervous as I am."

"Honey, he's probably ten times as nervous as you."

Linda didn't know how right she was. In a small choir room adjoining the large sanctuary of the church, Jack paced back and forth, fiddling with his white tie. Elliot's blue eyes followed his trek across the tiny room. "Calm down, man," the detective finally said, checking his blue tie in the mirror one more time. "You're gonna wear a hole in the floor."

Jack ran his hands through his dark brown hair and sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

"Take it from someone who knows. Once you see her, you won't even know that there's anyone else in the room."

"Really?"

Elliot smiled and clapped the younger man on the shoulder. "Really."

A knock sounded at the door, and the minister stuck his head in the room. "We're ready, guys."

The groom took a deep breath, straightened his suit jacket, and followed the minister out into the crowded sanctuary, with Elliot on his heels. He took his place on the floor next to the minister, and his eyes quickly roamed the crowd for familiar faces. Captain Cragen, Fin, and Munch sat three rows back, huge smiles gracing their faces. Jack McCoy and several others he recognized from the DA's office sat behind them.

His eyes moved to the other side of the aisle, where he spotted the blonde head of Andrew Russell sitting toward the back. His mother and father sat in the front row, and he couldn't resist a grin when his mother dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

Finally the soft introductory strands of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" floated through the air, and the doors at the back of the church opened wide. Every head in the church turned as Casey's sister, Jenna, made her way down the aisle. She smiled and nodded, almost imperceptibly, at her future brother-in-law.

Next came Olivia, her coffee-colored eyes twinkling at the sight of two of her favorite guys at the altar. Elliot's smile widened as she came closer to him, and she winked as she passed the two men.

Then the piano music shifted to Pachebel's "Canon in D". Jack's blue eyes widened as he caught sight of his bride, dressed in a simple yet beautiful white gown, for the first time, and a grin spread across his handsome face. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen, and it showed in his awestruck expression.

Casey held the arm of her father tightly, the medals of his army dress blues glinting in the afternoon sun. A smile graced her pretty face, framed by her long reddish-blonde curls, and her eyes never left the man in front of her. All the horror she'd been through seven months before, all the uncertainty of the past year, melted away as her emerald green eyes connected with Jack's sparkling blue eyes.

The pair reached the front, and James Novak gently took the hand of his daughter from his arm. He softly kissed her head, turned to Jack, and placed her hand in Jack's outstretched hand. "Take care of her," he whispered to the younger man.

Jack nodded and smiled. "I will."

Casey interlaced her fingers with his. "I love you," she mouthed, smiling.

"I love you too," he mouthed back as they turned to face the minister.

"Dearly beloved," the minister began. "We are gathered here today…"

Fin.