A/N: So again I apologize for this short chapter. I have this favorite story that I read on svufiction called "Proximity" and their chapters are GINORMOUS. But for some reason that just doesn't happen for me. Oh well. Means you get faster updates, right? Speaking of which, I'd planned this newest one (which I love and hate at the same time, keep reading, you'll understand) differently then it ended up happening and I had to switch things around a bit, so I actually wrote the next chapter before this one. It needs a tiny bit more editing, but should be up within a day or two. So review please please please! And I'll give you more before you know it. –wink-

TangoSVU

Madeline has her hands gripped tight around the bars of the witness stand and though her face is turned toward Casey, the ADA cannot see her eyes. "That's where you'll sit, and the Judge will be right there in that chair beside you. The jury will watch from here and,"

"Ms. Novak?" The girl's chin rotates to compensate for the ADA's movements. Her voice is soft and timid, not weak but shaky, a shimmer really.

But she doesn't continue. "What Madeline?" Casey comes closer.

"W-where will… can… what if… he…" her eyes are filling with tears.

Casey can finish the words, complete the sentences held back by fear. "He can't move from that seat all the way across from you. He'll be in handcuffs and chains around his feet. And remember, the bailiff is right there," she points. "Between you and him. There's absolutely no way Brent Forrest can get to you, he can't even speak while you're here and you can leave as soon as we're finished."

"You promise?" The pleading is so fervent, and Madeline's clutching her hand so tightly, but Casey's not one to make promises she can't guarantee one hundred percent. It's the lawyer in her.

So instead she gives the girl a great big smile and wraps an arm around Madeline's shoulder to lead her back into the witness waiting room. "Come on, we can run over your testimony one more time."

Surprisingly, Madeline allows this, even offering Casey a smile of her own. "Ok."

They pass the doors to the courtroom and Madeline stops, spotting a water fountain. A lobbyist rushes by, tossing Casey a file and in her distraction she doesn't see the beginning of the impending disaster, cannot stop the tragedy.

In an unexplainable moment of perfectly wrong timing, down the hall behind Casey a door opens and in walks the guards, pulling none other than Brent Forrest himself between them. Madeline has yet to notice, not even the chains have made a sound. But no one is paying attention and it all seems to happen in slow motion.

The girl turns around, wiping her mouth on the back of her left hand and that's when they spy each other. Forrest stares into her eyes knowingly, full of unspoken threats and licks his lips – which have upturned into a sinister smile. He passes right in front of her and she wants to scream. She's about to; she takes a breath to alert Ms. Novak as every fiber in her being begs to strike him, anything but submit to him after all this time. But then he reaches out, his finger tips grasping the edges of her shoulders.

Her heart stops, she cannot breathe. He's won. He will always win. "You're mine," he whispers so only they can hear. But she knows. She's always known.

And this is the moment Casey looks back, watches the pieces of her case fall apart in an instant. She cups her hands around Madeline's ears as quickly as she can think to do it but she isn't fast enough. Righteous indignation fills her, rising up and out of her mouth. "You bastard!" She shouts, instantly placing herself between Madeline and Forrest. The guards have yet to understand the damage they've just inflicted. "What are you doing? He's not supposed to be here for at least another hour. I want to talk to your superior now. Get him out of here and make sure he doesn't move an inch!" The guards are stumbling all over themselves and Brent does not stop looking back until he has been pulled around the corner.

Casey spins, dreading what she will find behind her. Madeline has been frozen in place, the shock and fear fully evident over every part of her face, her body. "Madeline, Madeline it's okay, he's gone."

She has not even blinked. Suddenly Madeline collapses straight down to the floor in a fainting heap and Casey realizes she isn't even breathing. "Madeline!" They're close enough to the witness room that Casey can grab Madeline beneath the arms and drag her inside. Once there Casey smacks the girl's cheeks. "Madeline breathe!"

It seems harsh, but it's exactly what she needs. Madeline jerks up with a startled, rasping gasp that sounds like it engulfs half the air in the room. Then there's hyperventilation, and her shaky fingers balling up her sleeves where he last touched her.

"Madeline, you okay?" Casey asks softly, gently placing a hand on top of hers. Madeline falls backward away from the touch and begins rocking, knees tucked tight into her chest, but for once there's no tears. There's nothing. "Madeline, I'm sorry. I should've been watching. Nothing like that will ever happen again."

But Madeline doesn't believe her. She doesn't believe anyone anymore except him. So she doesn't look up. She doesn't stop rocking. She doesn't speak.

Casey sees it for what it is, and her heart catches. Just then Rebecca Hendrix crosses the threshold carrying a travel mug of coffee whose smell is so strong the sweet caramel scent nearly overpowers the room. Luckily her entrance allows Casey the escape she needs. Rebecca's clearly confused but Casey can only toss her comment behind her as she rushes out the door. "Our perp got to her. Do what you can; I'll be back before the trial."