Title: Numbed

Author: ArtemisEyes14

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: All Law and Order: SVU characters are Dick Wolf's. He created them and I did not. I also did not invent post-its.

A/N: Oh my goodness, it's been more than a month since I last posted! My story was pushed back to #70! So sorry for the wait. If you don't want to keep reading, if you've forgotten what this story is about, even, I totally understand, it's my fault. Going back to school bogged me down with a TON of work, plus I had pneumonia. But I'm back now! If you do read (please do!), don't forget to make my day and send me a review!

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Olivia stared at her phone. This wasn't the first time she had sat on the edge of her bed, trying to gather the confidence to call Brian Cassidy. It was almost as if the experience was a flashback to five years before, though then, the call was personal. This was strictly business.

She was about to reach for the phone when it rang. She drew back, startled, then checked the caller I.D. The number was the same as the one on the pink post-it she was holding. The number she had looked up that day, succumbing to Elliot's nagging, agreeing to tell Brian about Giselle's rape. The number she was getting up the nerve to call. Cassidy's cell phone. She picked up the phone.

"Benson," she said into the receiver.

"Olivia?" a deep voice questioned. She hadn't heard that voice in a long time.

"Brian. Hi," she brought herself to utter. How much did he know? She should have called him sooner.

"Olivia," he seemed to state. "Wow, it's been a while. Hey. How've you been?" Olivia noted that Cassidy seemed unsettlingly calm for a man who had just found out his stepdaughter had been raped. Maybe he hadn't found out at all. Olivia's heartbeat was racing, and she wasn't quite sure why.

"Same old, same old, you know. This case, that case. And you?" she answered nervously. If he didn't know already, Olivia didn't want to bring up the rape. But why else would he call her? On her home phone line?

"Not so great, actually. I just had a long conversation with my wife, Julia. She informed me that my stepdaughter had been, um, raped. And that Giselle had given her your name. So I told her I'd call you, and see if there was some reason you didn't feel you could call me, tell me. And find out some specifics. And catch up with you." So he did know, Olivia thought. Why, then, was he so laid back about it? Maybe it was the effect of having seen the same sort of horrible things, day after day. Maybe he had been numbed.

"Brian, you know I can't discuss the details of-."

Cassidy cut her off. "Liv, I don't think this is something we should really do over the phone. Let's meet." Olivia was about to protest, but Cassidy spoke over her. "How about Chauncey's. I assume you guys still hang out there, and I haven't been there in years. You up for it?"

Olivia knew she should say no. She knew it and she wanted to with all of her being. But she couldn't bring herself to. "Okay," she replied. "Half an hour." Oh God, she sighed, as she hung up the phone. It wasn't strictly business anymore.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

When Olivia walked through the doors, she saw Brian already sitting at the bar. Though it wasn't a trait you would expect from him, he always had been punctual. He got up when he saw her and walked towards her. "Olivia Benson," he said as he looked her up and down. "You look amazing."

"Thanks, Bri," she replied, though she felt slightly uncomfortable with the compliment. That and the hand he had placed on her back, guiding her to the bar. For courtesy's sake, though, she paid him a compliment too. "You look..grown up."

It was the truth. Brian didn't seem like a little boy anymore. He had put on a little weight, mostly in muscle, it seemed, and he had certainly gained some confidence. He was almost..sexy. Maybe she should never have broken it off with him. Olivia winced at the thought, and tried to erase it from her mind. This wasn't about the two of them, she told herself, it was about Giselle.

Brian laughed. "Um, thanks, I guess." The two sat down. Olivia felt awkward, but Brian looked completely comfortable. His cavalier attitude towards the issue at hand made Olivia uneasy. For a second she thought she detected a hint of anger in him, but the momentary flicker passed, and Olivia's attention shifted to the bartender.

"Hey Detective Benson," he greeted her. "The usual?"

"Actually, Michael, I'm just gonna go for a club soda tonight, thanks," Olivia answered, remembering the last time she had gotten drunk with Cassidy. She definitely didn't want to go there. No.

"And you," Michael asked looking at Cassidy.

"Scotch on the rocks, thanks," he replied. Apparently he had fonder memories of that evening than Olivia, or he had chosen to forget it altogether. Brian turned his attention back to her and began to speak. "So, Liv, how's everyone at the one-six?"

Olivia answered hesitantly. "Um, they're okay. Elliot's fine, I guess you heard Jeffries left not too long after you, and Munch is, well, Munch." She paused. "Brian, I think maybe we should talk about the more important issue here."

Cassidy sighed. "Giselle," he said. "Olivia, can I ask you, do you think she's telling the truth about this..rape?"

Olivia was puzzled, and she stated so. "What do you mean?"

Cassidy paused a moment before starting. "I love my wife," he began. Olivia scoffed at the statement. He still had his arm around her, and was fingering her navy blue sweater. Maybe she was misconstruing his advances, but she thought this was probably not a scene Cassidy would want this Julia to see. He started over. "Liv, Giselle's been kind of a troublemaker from the get-go. She doesn't like me much. She knows I used to work in SVU, that I have friends there. I can't help but wonder if maybe this isn't a, well, a kind of personal attack on me."

So that was why Brian had seemed less than concerned for his stepdaughter. Cassidy never had been one to trust people, Olivia thought, remembering Harper Andersen. That was the case their relationship, or whatever it was, had started with. And ended with. But he should have known. Giselle had been raped. SVU had taught Olivia to weed out the less than truthful "victims" from the real ones; it should have taught Cassidy that too.

Maybe she was a little too personally involved, a little too emotional, or maybe not, but Olivia was irritated by Cassidy's careless attitude towards Giselle's assault. Her feelings of discomfort and nervousness and hesitation and even, to some extent, regret were instantly replaced with anger. "Get over yourself Brian," she said with scorn. "Your stepdaughter was raped, and all you want to do is talk about old times, to catch up? This isn't about you, it's not about us, it's about HER. Can't you show a little concern for Giselle?" And with that, Olivia stormed out of the bar.